nmah5526.xml

nmah5526.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-05-20

It was just after 8.30 am and My wife Dawn Moore-Bonnett was preparing breakfast for me. As VP Academic Affairs for the State University of New York (SUNY) Old Westbury, it was my custom to call in around 9.00 to speak to my adm asst and get any last minute updates before my short trip to the College. As per usual I was watching WABC, ch 7,when Peter Jennings, in a newsflash, stated that a plane had struck one of the twin towers. I immediately looked at the station , saw the conflagration, decided it was serious, shouted to my wife that a terrible accident had occurred and that she should turn to ch 7. I then called the President 's secretary at the College and my asst and told them of the disaster.
I felt that the pilot may have been an older soul who had suffered , maybe an heart attack, but wondered why he did not see the tower as it was brilliant day with fantastic sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. Within minutes , my wife said honey there is another plane going to the rescue,and then before our eyes we saw it happen. The second plane struck the second tower with what seemed devastating force.
I immediately called the campus spoke to my direct reports Associate and asst VPs and my adm asst and to the President's secretay once more to indicate that i would leave immediately to get to the campus and that i could be reachable by "cell"
I bade my wife goodbye urged her to set the alarm and stay alert ....i had a foreboding of impending doom! it was similar to my drill at the California state University(San Bernardino)where as the academic dean to which military science reported, i coordinated our response to natural disasters with University state Police Directors and others in the City and campus....this was no natural disaster and it seemed to be much worse

Yes this event had caused me to be more anchored spiritually, more aware of the value of friendships and strong family and collegial bonds , and of the fleeting nature of life. I had just lost my mom that february. I also made a decision that maybe i should reassess my desire to get a college presidency...to take it in stride - return to the professoriate and see what happened. I realized that to me it was no longer an obsession but rather a calling and that if it was God's will for me to get a presidency one would come my way, but more important was to take ethical stands, be a strong mentor and continue to influence lives and people as i have done for over thirty years. I later , in 2002 resigned my Vice Presidency and returned subsequently to the professoriate in 03.
I could still smell the stench of burning flesh that my wife and i witnessed and experienced on 9/13 at the SITE, and wondre about those who did not make it. Those who jumped to their death without making good with Allah, Yahweh or whatever their God was and their loved ones.....That experinece should teach us all a lesson in HUMILITY and the danger of Hubris.....
what does it matter (as the scriptures say) to a man if he gains the whole world and lose his SOUL....We Americans .....PaX Americana_ may gain the whole world but our eternal quest it to keep our national and international SOUL

The vulnerability of man, social institutions, edifices and America.That we are still a nation under GOD, and we should so act...and not as though we are totally omnipotent, all powerful, and so unconcerned about the "lessness' of the rest of the world
We should also remember that for a fleeting period in history we gained the respect and sympathy of many in the international community as we showed our basic humanity , our vulverabilities, pain and suffering publicly....a chastened President whose Presidency had hitherto been deemed" tainted "got a chance to redeem himself. History will judge as to whether we(our Leaders) have squandered that chance.
Finally, we should, as President Clinton and many others including I - have begun to do engage in a national conversation as to why would others hate us so as to martyr themselves to make a point and try to destroy the symbols - at least palpable ones- of our civilization.
Immanuel Wallerstein....America and the World: The Twin Towers as Metaphor is a good start...so is an excellent article on Evil by futurist scholar and my mentor Wendell Bell

No ! i wore a flag in my lapel for a brief while but soon realized that this was shallow patriotism.i love America my adopted country, but fely that many -including politicians -were using the flag for their own particularistic reasons which often were mutually exclusive to the high and lofty ideals of patriotism.