How 9/11 Changed America and Why the 25th Anniversary Matters

0:00Welcome to the Carey Appet Show, your place for news, views and values you can trust, and relationship insights you need. Now here's Carey Appet. So good to be with you friends on this very special day. We say it's special. It's also complicated because the history of 9-11 is... It brings back a lot of memories for many of us. And the 25th anniversary is upon us. And you know, many of the young adults in your life probably don't remember it the way that many of us do for a lot of us. The shock of it is still pretty vivid. I remember exactly where it was. I remember what TV screen I was looking at. And the horror that enveloped many of us, we have not forgotten. Nor should we forget. We are a very fortunate nation in that so little has happened on our... In our nation's cities.

1:01And even though we have a lot of issues, you look at other countries that have endured bombing and war. And we have not had that. But this is one... This is a key part of our story. As you well know, the death toll in New York was 2,977. That included the 19 terrorist hijackers. Well, 184 victims died when another hijacked plane crashed into the western side of the Pentagon. And 40 more when passengers and crew fought against the hijackers of a fourth plane managing to crash it in a field rather than allowing the airliner to strike its intended target, which many believe to be the White House or the U.S. Capitol. There are a lot more details to this story that many of you are aware of. And with me today, and I'm so honored that he is Native New Yorker and Social History and Paul Bitura is with us. He's also the Vice President of Communication for Focus on the Family. He is one of the wisest people there, one of the best leaders they have. I am so grateful that he has the time to actually join us.

2:02And he's actually written about 9-11. And he has a lot of insight on this topic. So welcome to the show, Paul Bitura. It's an honor to have you with us today. Oh, Carrie, thank you. It's always great to be with you. I know the topic is not one we're excited to talk about, but it's always good to be together. And when tough times come and anniversaries like this come around, it's good to remember and it's important to do it. It really is. So what are some of your most striking memories from that day? Well, like everyone, you know, first saw the images on TV. I remember I just come back from a run where two hours behind here. And I was not living in New York at the time. I had recently moved out here and been married. And you see it and you almost don't believe what you're seeing. That first hole in the building. And I had worked in Manhattan. I lived, I worked a little mile or so from ground zero. So you're just trying to size it all up and figure it all out.

3:03And then immediately when the second plane hit, you know you're under attack, the nations under attack. And everything just began to unfold. That day is a painful. I'm even getting goosebumps now talking to you about it. Because I remember, you know, my father was in the city. He volunteers at a school. Oh, my. Hi, and he was volunteering for a school for disabled children. And so he was in there. My brother worked in Manhattan. Obviously I knew I had a lot of friends who were who now recently retired. Firemen, policemen friends. So, you know, your mind just wonders who's in it and who's under it. And, you know, the memories I could tell you a Dr. Dops' story here at Focus on the Family. And I thought this is so emblematic of the man. When we, when I came to the office, we gathered in his office. And he said, Paul, I don't know what to do. And he said, you know, in times what I don't know what to do, he said, we pray. And so he called the whole ministry together. Oh, God. All 1200 of us, 1300 of us at the time.

4:06And that's what we did for a portion of the morning was to pray for the victims, you know, unknown at the time how bad it was. And certainly it unfolded over the days. But those were some of those are some of the first memories that I have. Oh, those are stark and those I feel the way you do. I have my body is like kind of going back now. And there's a slight bit of trigger there, which is just because it's a shock. And it was so horrific. And of course, we have video and pictures and of people jumping out of the buildings. We have the stories of the shocking distribution of people on the ground. I'll just leave it that way. The graphic nature of this incident is not lost in those of us who followed up on the story. And we followed it closely. Our whole nation was tuned in to every story, to every video, to every interview. And the shock just continued, right? And it just went on and on. And it was just so unthinkable.

5:07And the visual images of people who look across and saw this happening, right? These incredible buildings being taken down. It just it's unfanable. And it's still it's still with us. And of course, this anniversary and our lives changed in so many ways. I think one of the biggest was the way that we managed safety and air travel. And even privacy. And I'd love for you to speak to that because it wasn't too long ago. My husband and I were on another plane going to Florida and I see some family and I'm thinking, why do we have to go through all of this? And I immediately thought, well, I know why. But I'm not happy about it. We had an incident that really literally changed our lives, didn't it? In so many ways. Yeah, I mean, the introduction of TSA, of course, to young people today is, well, of course, we have TSA. And we had those of us of a certain age, right? We remember a version of security. I mean, there was the metal detector to go through.

6:08But it was, I mean, you just didn't think much of it. It was a little bit of a almost a joke, right? I mean, this is almost crazy to think. But when I was in high school, my father had an extra ticket that was in his name. And I remember I used it to go see my brother in California. And I flew under my dad's name, which I guess you could question the ethics of that. But they didn't question. They didn't ask for a photo ID. And the, here's, this is not probably appropriate to bring up on 9, 11, but I got, I got upgraded to first class. And I got to sit next to Raymond Burr. But I mean, I only mentioned that. Okay, that's wild. I think I should show you the contrast, right? Of where? Oh, completely. Yeah. And so there's a, obviously, a soberness now when you go through security, you realize they're doing this for our own good. You still see people get frustrated by it. And I have great empathy and sympathy for those agents. No one does it perfectly, right? But boy, it has, it's changed the time.

7:09I mean, you remember you used to get to the airport minutes before your flight? And now forget it. I mean, you're going to be spending a good portion of your morning. They turned the shopping malls and into restaurants, you know, all the way, all the way there and back to the gate so that when you are stuck there for hours, at least you'll have something to eat. And it'll be more enjoyable and they have live music. We were in Nashville as we are. Our flight went to Nashville and then back home and we thought, well, at least we have this going for us. But you're right. We think of all the liberties and freedom we had. We didn't have to worry about that. And now we do, although I don't know how often planes get hijacked. And if this is all actually a good idea, have we lost some of our liberties? I know the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security, that Homeland Security didn't even exist in the way that it does now, right? No, and no, right, that's been a post 9-11 creation. And there is tension. There's tension between what you're willing to give up in terms of what you're willing to get. And obviously there's been misuse and abuse of some of that and the gathering of information and the willingness to put up with inconveniences.

8:15I mean, I kind of chalk it up to the reality of a fallen world, right? And we have to assume that our officials are doing what's in our best interest. We're trying to, we need to pray for these folks who are responsible for our safety. And I always thought during the Bush administration, you don't get credit for what you prevent. And after 9-11, there was no major attack on the homeland. And I think that's something that we need to one, thank the Bush administration for preventing. But thank the Lord for protecting us and for giving us that opportunity to kind of read, adjust and obviously put new security in place that prevented things that could have been much worse and no doubt other attacks were prevented. I mean, I've no doubt about that. You're right. You're absolutely right.

9:16And then once, of course, the system gets changed, people start thinking about, oh, if they did that with an airplane, what could I do with an airplane? And all transportation has been notched up as far as the safety goes because people use almost any form of transportation to harm other people. We've seen that with vehicles driven into crowds, right? And you've written about 9-11. And is this a topic that you've gone into great depth? What is it that you've written about? And why this topic? Given all the other topics that you manage at folks on the family and your background and communication and why, and usually it's relational aspects, why 9-11? Well, it was so transformational, of course, for our country. And it really cut right to the core because we lost people we knew and we saw families forever disrupted. I had a little bit of a tie-in. If you remember that famous bullhorn incident with President Bush on top of the fire engine in 9-11,

10:18the fireman that he put his arm around was a neighbor of mine. Oh, wow. An old fireman who was there to help, he came in to kind of just do what he could do. And so I had an opportunity to interview him and a great man. He recently died. We focused on the family went out to ground zero to administer to the personnel who was there and the families in the area. And what, why did we do it or how did we do it? How did you do that? Give me the monitors there. The Red Cross invited us. They gave us a tent and we were able to bring copies of Dr. Dopson's book when God doesn't make sense. He used it just as a place to pray and to join the whole effort. I mean, when you have such an event of such magnitude, you feel really helpless, don't you? I mean, my wife and I visited the ground zero, that Christmas, when we went back home to visit my mom and dad.

11:18And it was overwhelming to be down there. You know, it was a sober environment. You know, there was still the stench and still the kind of the clouds of debris. It took years. I mean, I know there's been a lot of praise for the reclamation of the area and the memorial is stunning if you've ever been down there. And that's hard for me because I grew up there. You know, I went when I was a little boy, we went to the top of the trade center and been back many times. And then to see it all gone, it really, it, I think it's so profound because it speaks to the impermanence of life. And you know, if buildings that tall could come down in a morning, that reminds you how, how frail and fragile the world is, right? And the Lord yet remains in full control. And he's not going to be outdone. He's not going to be outmaneuvered. And that gives us some hope amidst the sadness and the sorrow. It really does when you think of the level of evil that would do something like that.

12:23And the evil behind it. Of course, we don't battle people. Evil uses people. And that's always very unfortunate. But the principalities and powers that exist are assaulting God himself and his image bearers. And that does not change. As you mentioned, God wins. We know that. And yet we have this anniversary of this time that was so devastating. And stories are still coming out of the heroic nature of people's behavior and the different firemen and the first responders and everyone who put their life on the line to save somebody else. And that inspires us to remind ourselves, we have to be thinking, what are you doing in a situation like that? Would I be one of those people that would expect someone to save me or what I do what I can to save someone else? Have you done that test with yourself? Sure. I'm like you. I'm humbled and I'm marvel at first responders. The famous line, they run in when everybody else is running out.

13:24And growing up in a small town on Long Island, we had a volunteer fire department. And I never joined it. But I always admired the people who did. And these guys would throw the light on their dashboard and dash off to the fire station or to the actual site of the event. And boy, these guys were courageous and brave and so wonderful to live with those types of people. I mean, actually, actually had that experience. I saw something earlier this week. The president was honoring a young man who was 25 who was part of a volunteer fire department in New York. And he had a red bandana, his father had given him who was also a fireman. And it was symbolic to him. And he actually had it on his face when he was running up and down the stairs, saving people that he died in the lobby. And they gave his mother and sister the presidential medal of freedom. The president did it. It was so touching to me. I'm so glad you mentioned that because I had not heard that story. But there's now a foundation, the red bandana foundation doing great work.

14:27I think the family goes around and speaks on this very issue of how inspiring it is to give your life for somebody else, right? In that situation. But you actually experienced these brave souls who had other jobs, full-time jobs. And they were trained as firemen and would go out and volunteer. We need to take a really quick break here. I'm so honored to have Paul Petura with us today. He's Vice President of Communication for Focus on the Family. We're talking about the 25th anniversary of 9-11. The importance of remembering this foreign nation cannot be understated. And if you have family members who don't know anything about it, it's important that you lean in and share with them. Why many of us care so deeply about the story and why we want to remember those who were so heroic will be right back. Friends culture may change, but truth does not. Alliance defending freedom stands ready to protect every person's right to live and speak truth. Today we're facing an unprecedented challenge.

15:30We're safer and richer than ever before. But we're living in a culture that has rejected the very foundations upon which our liberty was built. Freedom cannot survive in a culture that is abandoned truth and rejected reality. This is the battle of our generation wherever human freedom is under attack. We stand ready to defend it in courtrooms, legislatures, and the public square. To find us on the front lines, this is why Alliance defending freedom exists. ADF's strategic victories will bring lasting change in law and culture and with a coalition of courageous clients, allies, advocates, and supporters, ADF now has 18 Supreme Court wins. This is a great time to join the coalition. So to find out how you can get involved, go to adflegal.org. That's adflegal.org. Friends, does the teen, college age or young adult woman in your life struggle with her image, purpose, or her identity? Is she finding it difficult to have joy when she thinks about her future?

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17:31That the stories continue. There are many courageous stories that we celebrate and we're honored to do. So to help me understand how to look back in a special way. Palbitra is with us. He's the vice-president of communication for a focus on the family. A native New Yorker, which I did not know about you, Paul. And also, you written about this. What are some of the point of things that you would want to share with someone? Let's say you're talking to a 19-year-old today. And you realize they don't have the same memories that you do. What would you say to them that you would want them to remember? Yeah, boy. When you talk about that perspective, it occurred to me that it's been 25 years. And when I was born in 1972, which is almost as much time since Pearl Harbor. It's when I was born to the 9-11 to now. So there's a lot of years. And obviously, we look back at things as ancient history when it's so many years. Right. But for you and I, you mentioned 19-year-old, we have three boys who are 21, 16, and 14.

18:35So we do have these conversations. I like to tell stories because I think stories communicate God's truth. And I had a friend who lived in Garden City on Long Island. And he tells me about coming home every night after 9-11 and watching the cars in the parking lot. And how they would get chalked to note that that person had not come back for the car. So, over time, you began to see these were the victims. You know, these were the real, you could see it. You know, the tragic aspect, of course, of 9-11 of the World Trade Center attacks is that those people were, I mean, forgive me for saying this, but they were kind of vaporized. You know, there was no body. They never found them. And what a difficult reality for families to find that closure, you know. And you didn't know much about where were they? Were they on the 100th floor? Were they on the 50th? Were they almost out? Were they nowhere near being out? Were they the ones who jumped? You just, you never knew, right? And those were the reality.

19:37And so to tell stories about that, so they can name names. Mentioned that people by name, I think it's important to put, you know, we, Paul Harvey, who was my radio hero growing up, used to say that it's different when the numbers have names. And we tend to talk in huge generalities, you know, 3,000 lost. And well, that's a big number. But when you talk about Bob Smith, or you talk about, you know, Paul Gillin, people that you knew, right, who were lost, it humanizes it. It personalizes it. And the families, of course, impacted the kids who are now having kids of their own, who lost parents that day. Those are the things we talk about. But, you know, the response that America rallied in a remarkable way. I loved it. I mean, that was the best part of the worst events, right? I mean, the flags that were flying in the prayer services that were packed out.

20:39It was, I mean, I mean, it's hard to remind our kids that members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, saying God bless America on the steps of the US Capitol. Right. We had unity. We had a unity of purpose that is hard to remember. And what, what some call now a polarized world that we're in, especially in our nation, I believe some of that has been fomented. I believe people are a lot more unified than the few that speak on our behalf. There are people who are discontent. And there are things that are happening there. But I do think that's why the stories matter, reading the names every year matters and giving awards to family and remembering them. And this is why so many movies and shows that that depict the strong feelings New Yorkers have about 9-11. It's a big deal. It's a big deal to them because it was on in their neighborhood. And they lost their people and their family members. And they're still, and then the cancer that came after and all of the other stories that we cannot forget for that reason.

21:41And so for those who don't understand why is it such a big deal to them, lean in and learn the story. I was reading this morning on that a Coast Guard lieutenant named Mike Day. He keyed a radio in New York, Harvard and said the only sentence that mattered at the time, all available boats. This was at 10.45 AM. This is the United States Coast Guard. Anyone wanting to help with the evacuation of Lower Manhattan report to Governor's Island. And the boats were already coming in. And they, and they, these vessels literally roughly 800 mariner's on about 150 or, yeah, about 150 vessels moved as many as 500,000 civilians off of Manhattan in about nine hours. You compare that to Dunkirk. It took nine days, right? To get 338,000 or so of the Allied soldiers off the beach in 1940. I realized it was a very different story. But to me, that's incredible. Just thinking about that. And when you go in and read in the particular articles I was looking at, the captain was like, we broke every rule. We did not follow the Coast Guard guys. Like I've kept these rules my whole life. Not that day. We did whatever it took.

22:45They would pull up to almost any place they could. They had to pull people out of the water. People had to get off of there. The bridges were blown. I mean, everything was messed up. You couldn't drive off of Manhattan. And I think to me, that's just another example of, all right, let's get this job done. Let's save the people we can. And let's all pull together. And I had not seen that particular story before. And it really encouraged me. Yeah, I'm so glad for you to mention the fact that we're not made. Maybe we're not as divided as the popular press. It's a guest. Because I think you're absolutely right. And I think tragedy tends to magnify that and reveal that if you're not paying attention otherwise. Being a native New Yorker, obviously I'm going to be partial to my home state. And I, New Yorkers have a huge heart. And yet, of course, popular culture frames New Yorkers as gruff and grouchy and mean and angry. And, you know, okay, I could introduce you to all those people.

23:46We all know people. But so could any town in America, right? And yet at the time when the chips were down, people stood up and they did that type of a remarkable rescue. And they, you know, gave from their homes, they housed people. They, you know, provided food for the first responders. I mean, you name it. They did it. And I think that's the human spirit. I mean, that's what, you know, God has infused in each person this type of heart that's open and willing. And, you know, obviously it needs to be cultivated. And I have a lot more hope in America than I think you and I, you and I have a lot more hope than maybe some people do. But we see it, right? It's revealed in difficulty. And that's encouraging. And it should encourage people even today. My friends who are New Yorkers, I would count on them in a moment. The resilience and tenacity and the can, can do spirit. It's not something that's made up.

24:49It's always been that way. And I think it's been strengthened because of this experience. And it feels like neighborhoods getting together. Not it's such a big city. And yet you have all these unique neighborhoods coming together, acting like neighbors. And that's something that is, I think people are trying to destroy that as well. That's when we say people, you and I both know there are a lot of people who create stories that are trying to create division. I think on a day like today, this is a great day for us to say, no, we don't need those. We want to see what's uniting us. Let's write about that. Let's talk about what's good. Let's go back and share these courageous stories of the Coast Gardener tenant who jumped in and just did what good men do and what good women do in a situation like that. And I think that's really encouraging for us going forward. We have a lot of things happening in our nation that are good that people don't hear about. We have some challenges. What kind of encouragement in our last two minutes together? Would you give people to take from 9-11 and move forward with it? Yeah, you tend to find what you're looking for. And so obviously, I would encourage people to look for those bright spots. We pause today.

25:53We remember and we mourn and grieve because for a portion of people, their lives have never been the same. They've been changed forever. We've lost an entire segment of people who would have done remarkable things. I know who would have created families and would have invented things and thousands of people now are in heaven. Hopefully some, and we have to grieve that. But going forward, one is to learn from the mistakes. Thomas Sol, who I love has said, basically anything that's ever happened in history. That's why you should read history because you realize you can repeat history and you can make the same mistakes but learn from the mistakes. So obviously as a country, have we learned from the security lapses? Are we going to be why is going forward in making policies that protect people and put America on safe footing? I hope we have. I think the current administration

27:00has demonstrated that they take it seriously. We need to pray for our leaders. We are in difficult, difficult time and history. But so have we always been in a difficult time of history. But be of good heart. The Lord is in control. God is sovereign and we're going to be okay. The Lord has the final word. Amen. Good word, Paul Bittura. It's so nice to have you with us today on this very special day. God bless you. Thank you for joining me and everyone else. We'll see you next time. You've been listening to the Carriabit Show. If you'd like to listen again to today's episode or share it with a friend, simply go to thelegacyinstitute.com. And remember, the Carriabit Show is made possible by donations from friends like you. And of course, our text deductible. If you'd like to donate today, go to thelegacyinstitute.com or call 425-354-8517. That's thelegacyinstitute.com.