Thoughts of 9/11

Sam Jeffrey spoke at Harding University's chapel today. These are his thoughts on September 11th.
This is the transcript of his speech.  Hope you are blessed by this.

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Good morning

I was asked to speak to you today about the September 11th attacks of 2001. I'm honored to do that as I realize that day had a profound impact on my life but happened very early in yours. That being said, because of my work before coming to Harding I must say that today I also mourn the loss of my brothers in the Benghazi attacks of September 11, 2012. They died with honor few men can know. They died that others might live...a very American thing to do.

When I was first asked to speak about the attacks of September 2001 my first thought was to mention a military graduation that I recently went to. A Harding graduate, one of mine, graduated from the US Army Ranger Selection Program. He was one of fifteen graduates from a class that started with one hundred fifty-two. I wanted to share with you what the Command Sergeant Major said at his graduation. He spoke in detail to the graduates and their families about the many threats around the world. The dangers of wars and terrorism and then he said something I’ll never forget. He looked at the graduates and, after detailing all these threats said, “make no mistake gentlemen, I intend to take you into harm’s way. Whatever platform we use to close with the enemy I will be stepping off of it with you and we will destroy the enemy and I will bring you back because you are better trained, more highly motivated and you are equipped with everything you need."

I wanted to share that because military courage and commitment are so close to what the story of 9/11 means to me but the more I thought of it I wasn’t sure I could make the connection for you… and as I kept thinking there was one thought that I kept wanting to tell you…

“I wish you could have seen it.”

Not the attacks…they were horrible. Beyond words really. I have a buddy that was on the ground in New York and his memory of 9/11, the thing that haunted him was the loud slaps of the bodies of those who had jumped from the World Trade Center hitting the pavement around him. I don’t really want to talk about the attacks. 2,977 people died. It is really hard for you to imagine what it was like because you’ve grown up with terrorism. We hadn’t. So… it was chaos.

National Chaos…

This weekend I went back and watched the news from the morning of 9/11. Its clear nobody knew what was going on. There was talk of a bomb exploding at the State Department HQ, CNN reported an explosion at the Capitol building, MSNBC said a bomb had gone off at the Supreme Court. Obviously none of that happened. They weren’t lying. They were just scared like the rest of us. These days everyone talks about the government response to 9/11… and there was plenty of it… but that would come later. For most of the day nobody even knew where the president was.

It was all chaos…well…not all of it.

You see there were some people who saw what was going on and acted. They didn’t wait or hesitate. They made their move and the rest of us followed.

We were a nation in chaos and we needed leaders…no we needed heroes…and we found them. The heroes of 9/11 weren’t found doing what they were told. They were found doing what was right. 343 firefighters rushed into rescue and never came back. They knew what they were doing. They knew the risks and they went anyway. 60 police officers went the World Trade Centers to help evac the victims and became victims themselves. Right there 403 men and women immediately. They went. Thousands of civilians escaped death that morning but it came at the cost of their lives. They weren't ordered to their fate. The main cell tower and radio repeaters for that portion of New York were on the top of the World Trade Center and had stopped working. They couldn't hear their commanders but they could see their duty and went to it. They went to it because people needed rescue and if they didn't go who would? I wish you could’ve seen that.

Soon after the World Trade Center was hit a plane flew into the Pentagon in Washington. It came in low over Arlington National Cemetery, crossed over South Washington Blvd and slammed into the Pentagon. 184 people were killed that day but as would be the case in New York several of the first responders would die later from the asbestos and other materials they inhaled while working the scenes. One of those was my friend and father of a Harding student, FBI SA Bob Roth. I don’t recall how quickly Bob responded to the Pentagon but it was fairly soon after the plane hit. In the following days Bob worked in the immense crime scene. One of his duties was to secure all the classified safes that had been in the portion of the Pentagon that had been hit. Whenever Bob and his team found a safe, or what was left of one, they would call over the radio and a guy would show up on a gator and load the safe up and drive it off to wherever they were collecting the safes. Somewhere around day three Bob’s supervisor pulled him off to the side and showed Bob a picture of a man.

“Do you know this guy?” He asked clearly indicating that there was a concern about the man in the picture.

Bob said he swallowed hard. He did know the guy. It was the guy that drove the gator around picking up the safes.

“Yes. Why?”

“Because we have no idea who he is or how he got into the secure area.”

A little investigation found that all the safes were exactly where they were supposed to be. Collected and secured precisely as ordered. A search of the area found the man helping search teams digging through the rubble.

When they pulled him aside to question him he readily stated that he was not there in any official capacity. He was just a retired marine who had been jogging in Arlington National Cemetery when he saw the plane hit the Pentagon. When he saw the explosion he picked up his pace and ran towards the flames…and stayed for three days helping in any way he could find. He had not snuck into the secure area they had built it around him while he worked. Nothing official. Just a man who saw an impossible need and moved out to meet it.

It is what Marines do. It is what Americans do. I wish you could’ve seen that.

And I wish you could have been there to hear the story of Todd Beamer… Todd was a young man, he had been married a few years and had two sons with his wife, Lisa. Todd was a good father, good husband, and a hard worker. He boarded Flight 93 that morning because he had skipped an earlier flight to spend more time with his kids. His plane took off about the same time the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Shortly after takeoff the terrorists stormed the cockpit and herded all the passengers into the back of the plane. Once there Todd used a Inflight phone in the plane to call the operator to get word out they had been hijacked. His called was answered by a lady named Lisa. While Todd talked to Lisa he learned what terrorists had done with the other planes and determined that Flight 93 would not go down like that. Todd informed Lisa that a group of passengers had decided they were going to retake the plane. Todd asked Lisa to recite the Lord’s Prayer with him, which she did. Todd then set the phone down and Lisa heard him say those around him “you guys ready? “Let’s Roll!”

…and with that, before the attacks were even over, the first successful counterattack took place. The terrorists who had either the White House or the Capitol building in their sights were stopped hundreds of miles short not by elite soldiers or a government agency but by average Americans…heroes. I wish you could've seen that.

You see, the attacks were horrible….but they brought out something beautiful. It brought courage to the surface. Pettiness and argument retreated. We were one…just for a little while and it was beautiful. I wish you could’ve seen it.

You catch glimpses it every now and then. One week racial tensions are at their peak and then Hurricane Harvey hits and all of the sudden rednecks are taking their bass boats into inner city Houston to rescue their black brothers and sisters. You see…when everything is quiet and peaceful and plentiful you can fight like cats and dogs but when you’re in a fight for your life you realize real quick who your friends are. You realize we got a lot more in common than you thought.

What September 11th revealed was that the cliché is true. The strength of America is its people. It revealed that secret that the Founders had discovered so long ago…that America is at its best when we lead Washington instead of letting Washington lead us. We are at our best when we disregard policy and ourselves and move to meet the needs of those around us.

The story of 9/11 has to be retold and has to be remembered because there are lessons to learn. For us here today there are several. There are risks... Everyday... and your called to take them.

The Christian, secure in Christ, should be the first to close with the enemy. There are threats...Everywhere.... and your called to face them.

Christ has told us that he intends to take us into harms way. But he has said that he has equipped us, he will go with us, and he will bring us back.

September 11th reminds the Christian that every day is a rescue. Don't be scared of the flames or the fight. Run to them. You're not called to talk or critique. You're called to rescue.

So get after it. You're dismissed.