story6514.xml
Title
story6514.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-12
911DA Story: Story
I'm a US Army widow, whose husband served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. My parents both are veterans of WWII. To say I am pro-military is an understatement. However, I've never lived personally during catastrophic times, other than the unpopular war: Viet Nam. I am a "baby boomer", born in 1949.
Upon visualizing these live terrorist attacks on television, like most others, we were in shock and could not comprehend what we were seeing. And, unlike previous generations before me, I knew my experience was undeniably different in that this was the first attack on American soil in the history of our nation by foreigners.
History was in the making and I was living through it. Aware of the politics and the "lack of rules of engagement" perpetrated by religious fanatics, it became clear to me that this will not be a conventional war and that the forthcoming events in human history will be unprecedented.
I thought of the Crusades of early centuries, thinking of all those who died in the name of Christianity. Was this so different?
Yes, the enemy succeeded in planting the seeds of fear in me. However, the dynamic of a united front amongst my fellow Southern Americans {I'm a Yankee living in the southern US}, the dynamic of a united front, comradeship, and solidarity, moved me emotionally. Living in the South now [even after 25 years] made me feel a belongingness to my people despite our different origins at these critical endless moments. Our pot has melted and I am better for it, at the price of aggression, destruction and loss of innocent life. When God closes a door, He always opens a window. We are a people strong in spirit and determination. Thank God for George W. Bush, able President of the United States. I cannot imagine his democratic challenger, Al Gore, being capable of handling this horrific situation other than giving platitudes and being totally impotent in the face of the magnitude of our coming challenges.
Nan Mims - Pembroke, Georgia September 12, 2002
Upon visualizing these live terrorist attacks on television, like most others, we were in shock and could not comprehend what we were seeing. And, unlike previous generations before me, I knew my experience was undeniably different in that this was the first attack on American soil in the history of our nation by foreigners.
History was in the making and I was living through it. Aware of the politics and the "lack of rules of engagement" perpetrated by religious fanatics, it became clear to me that this will not be a conventional war and that the forthcoming events in human history will be unprecedented.
I thought of the Crusades of early centuries, thinking of all those who died in the name of Christianity. Was this so different?
Yes, the enemy succeeded in planting the seeds of fear in me. However, the dynamic of a united front amongst my fellow Southern Americans {I'm a Yankee living in the southern US}, the dynamic of a united front, comradeship, and solidarity, moved me emotionally. Living in the South now [even after 25 years] made me feel a belongingness to my people despite our different origins at these critical endless moments. Our pot has melted and I am better for it, at the price of aggression, destruction and loss of innocent life. When God closes a door, He always opens a window. We are a people strong in spirit and determination. Thank God for George W. Bush, able President of the United States. I cannot imagine his democratic challenger, Al Gore, being capable of handling this horrific situation other than giving platitudes and being totally impotent in the face of the magnitude of our coming challenges.
Nan Mims - Pembroke, Georgia September 12, 2002
Collection
Citation
“story6514.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 25, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/10224.