Drawing a line in the dust at Ground Zero

By Doug Hagmann —— Bio and Archives May 26, 2010

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Shortly after efforts turned from rescue to recovery at Ground Zero, I walked amid the rubble with a New York City police officer named “Mark.” It was just after daybreak over lower Manhattan, and the noxious odors of death, jet fuel and oppressive toxic dust still filled the air. We said nothing to each other as we stopped at the edge of a darkly stained area on the ground where bodies had fallen or people had jumped to their deaths. Debris and dust covered over portions of the grotesque paisley patterns that extended beyond yellow police tape that flapped in the morning breeze.

The NYPD officer was first to break the silence. “I remember the first one,” he said, referring to the February 26, 1993 bombing that killed 6 people and injured over a thousand more. “This time it’s going be a whole lot different,” he added. As we walked away from the area, he said that our response was going to be decisive. America was deeply wounded, but Americans were angry. And it seemed like we were united in our anger. We were going to fight, prevail, rebuild and grow stronger. Standing there that morning, neither of us had any doubt that our leaders would not just avenge the deaths of 9/11, but take steps to make sure that such an attack would never happen again. We would emerge stronger and smarter. That was 8 ½ years ago. Earlier this month, I stood with Mark at the outer perimeter of what once was the World Trade Center, reflecting back on that day. “We were wrong,” said Mark, gesturing to the fenced void where the North Tower once stood. For the next few hours, we talked about just how wrong we were, and how wrong things are. We talked about some of the heroes that died that day, and their families. More...