Sept. 11, Seven Years On

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(AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)

As Barack Obama and John McCain pause from the crass politicking that's consumed the last few new cycles and come to Manhattan to commemorate the seventh anniversary of Sept. 11--they're appearing together at Ground Zero this afternoon and speaking tonight at Columbia University's ServiceNation summit--I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of what it's like to be a New Yorker on this heartbreaking day.

Each morning, I ride the D train from the Atlantic station in Park Slope, Brooklyn to NEWSWEEK's midtown Manhattan offices. The train crosses the East River on the Manhattan Bridge. Today, as I was absorbed in my usual antisocial routine--listening to my iPod through sound-isolating earbuds, reading a magazine--I heard a faint voice come over the train's speaker system. It was the conductor. Typically, subway conductors take to the P.A. to warn us or inform us. "Please stand clear of the closing doors," they say. But mine had a different message to deliver.

"As you know, ladies and gentlemen, it was seven years ago today that our city was attacked," he said. The car was crowded with rush-hour commuters, many of whom, like me, were reading or listening to music. A few removed their headphones and closed their novels; many didn't. At this point, we were still tunneling through the dark under Flatbush Avenue toward the bridge and, on the other side of the water, Manhattan. The conductor continued: "You'll see when we cross the river that's there an American flag on top of the Brooklyn Bridge. An American flag. Let's have a moment of silence for those who lost their lives on 9/11--and for those who are now giving their blood in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world."

You rarely feel a sense of community, or communion, when riding the New York subway system. New Yorkers hover in their separate spheres, getting wherever they have to go. We are alone together and prefer it that way. But when I looked around, a few eyes met mine: a young woman reading Saul Bellow's "Henderson the Rain King"; an older African-American man in a Mets cap; a Chinese boy who was born long after the planes hit the buildings. And as we emerged from the dark of the underground into the light of morning, ascending the ramp and looking west over the water toward the American flag atop the eastern tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, and further, along the same line of sight toward the gap in the lower Manhattan skyline where the World Trade Center once stood the conductor began to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." His voice was quiet--barely audible, really--but clear. Everyone on the train was listening. It was a little surreal; his earnestness clashed with our isolation. But it was also kind of moving.

I thought back to Sept. 13, 2001, when I traveled from Princeton to New York to volunteer and saw smoke still looming over the lower half of the city; I remembered how police stopped the train for a half hour on the New Jersey side of the Hudson, and how our fear was like a fog. The conductor finished his song just as we slipped under the streets of Manhattan. "God bless America and God bless each and every one of you," he said. "This is a beautiful place to be."

When the train pulled into the next subway station, the speaker system crackled and the conductor's voice returned. "This is Grand Street," he said. "Transfer across the tracks for the Brooklyn-bound B and D trains. This is a Bronx-bound D. Stand clear of the closing doors, please."

Life goes on.

Here are the Sept. 11 statements from McCain and Obama:

John McCain:

"No American living then should ever forget the heroism that occurred in the skies above this field on September 11, 2001. It is believed that the terrorists on United Flight 93 may have intended to crash the airplane into the United States Capitol. Hundreds if not thousands of people would have been at work in that building when that fateful moment occurred, and been destroyed along with a beautiful symbol of our freedom. They and, very possibly I, owe our lives to the passengers who summoned the courage and love necessary to deny our depraved and hateful enemies their terrible triumph. 

"I have witnessed great courage and sacrifice for America's sake, but none greater than the sacrifice of those good people who grasped the gravity of the moment, understood the threat, and decided to fight back at the cost of their lives. 

"I spoke at the memorial service for one of them, Mark Bingham. I acknowledged that few of us could say we loved our country as well as he and all the heroes of September 11 had. The only means we possess to thank them is to try to be as good an American as they were. We might fall well short of their standard, but there is honor in the effort. 

"In the Gospel of John it is written, 'Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.' Such was their love; a love so sublime that only God's love surpasses it. I am in awe of it as much as I am in debt to it. May God bless their souls." 

Barack Obama:

“Today, we honor the memory of the lives that were lost on September 11, 2001, and grieve with the families and friends who lost someone they loved in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We will never forget those who died. We will always remember the extraordinary efforts of our firefighters, police and emergency responders, and those who sacrificed their own lives on Flight 93 to protect their fellow Americans. And we give thanks for the Americans defending us every day in our communities at home, and in our military abroad. 

“On 9/11, Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose. Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 are still at large, and must be brought to justice. Let us resolve to defeat terrorist networks, defend the American homeland, stand up for the enduring American values that we cherish, and seek a new birth of freedom at home and around the world.”