nmah5131.xml

nmah5131.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-20

Three days before September 11, 2001, a friend and I had attended the First National Book Festival at the Libary of Congress in Washington, D.C. - an event cosponsored by First Lady Laura Bush. I had brought a poster from the festival in to work the morning of September 11 and was tacking it to my wall when my boss came to tell me a plane had struck the World Trade Center. I went with her into her office where we watched events unfold on her television. We thought it was an accident, at first, as most people did. Then, when the second plane struck, we knew.
The way my friend and I spent the Saturday before September 11 - in a peaceful celebration of creativity and culture - will always stand out in my mind in contrast with the mindless, barbaric destruction of September 11. The only thing the hijackers proved is this: We are better than they are.

Yes. But I always felt the same way about the U.S. flag, that it represents the finest nation the world has ever seen.