|
||||
  
 
 |
We are all connected to the events of September 11 By
Greg Hatch It was Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, and former Utah State University student Ross Poulson was leaving for work. He kissed his wife and two daughters goodbye. Living in Alexandria, Va. and working in Washington D.C., Poulson had to catch a bus to the Pentagon transit hub where he then rode the subway to reach his work. This was a very normal day. When he got to work, he saw all of his co-workers watching television so he joined them. The news was reporting that an airplane had just hit the Pentagon. "When I looked out the widow, all I could see was black smoke rising above the Pentagon," Poulson said. "I was just there five minutes ago." The plane crashed on the opposite side of the Pentagon from where he gets off the bus not two minutes after he got on the subway said Poulson. "The next thing I did was call my wife and tell her I was all right." Poulson and his family moved from Logan two years ago to study law. He and his family, like many people are, in one way or another, connected to Logan. Another Logan resident, Tyson Cheshire, was standing about 10 feet from the World Trade Center when the first plane struck the building. "We were thinking that maybe a plane had veered off course," Cheshire said. "But then we started hearing that there could be bombs on the ground." Later in the week many USU students attended a candlelight vigil on the Quad. The students showed large amounts of patriotism. Speakers at the event urged people to "reach out to people beyond your shores," advocating peace instead of retaliation. One speaker quoted Gandhi, saying, "an eye for an eye makes everyone blind." Patriotism has been on an upward trend over the past month with flag sales increasing. Patriotic hymns are being sung in in religious meetings. On the Friday after the WTC destruction, religious leaders in Logan got together at the Eccles Theater and prayed. "These are times of adversity for Americans and times of adversity for Muslims," Saleem Syed-Ali of the Islamic center said. "When the IRA in Ireland attacks innocent people, we don't blame the Catholic Church. In the same way, believe me, Osama bin Laden does not represent Islam." At the time of the destruction, many considered what this conflict could mean to the Utah men and women in the military. Local National Guard Sgt. Cook said, "It is doubtful that local soldiers will be called into action. On the same token, National Guard headquarters anticipates no units being activated." Though no troops were expected to be sent out, the Armory was in a state of lockdown, what they call "condition alpha." In contrast to what was thought of as a military need at the time of the WTC destruction, troops have now been put on the move. It began "with the movement of 1,000 soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division to join the 1,000 already in Central Asia. Additional troops will come from posts in the United States, but some almost certainly will be pulled out of the U.S. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Kosovo." Though this may not affect local military personnel, it will affect many throughout the Nation. This all leads to the question, why? All of this destruction is for what reason? Why does Osama bin Laden hate the U.S. and the American way of life? Newsweek recently came out with an article that addresses these very questions. Author Fareed Zakaria said, "Osama bin Laden has an answer -- religion. For him and his followers, this is a holy war between Islam and the Western world." Looking at the big picture, the rationalization is that Logan, Utah, will probably never have any planes crashing into Old Main or a bomb planted in City Hall. Logan is relatively a safe place to be. A possible threat could be when the 2002 Olympics come to Utah. President Bush sought to reassure Americans the government was doing all it could to make them safe. "If we receive specific intelligence that targets a specific building or city or facility, I can assure you our government will do everything possible to protect the citizens," he said. He urged all Americans to report anything suspicious to law enforcement authorities. Though Logan is a relatively safe place to be, we are all interconnected to somebody who was involved in the terrorism of September 11. We all have loved ones who could be called away to war.
|
Archived Months:
January
1999 January
2000 January
2001 |
||