BOSTON— Driving toward Logan International Airport on Wednesday, the intense clarity of the sky reminded me of that moment on September 11th, 2001 that changed everything. I was thinking about how to understand this 23rd anniversary of the attack and the unity of our response, and I was left pondering how different – and how deeply divided – a country we are today.
The perfect cobalt blue sky and pleasant temperatures were hauntingly similar to that September morning back in 2001 when New York was just getting started on a day of innocent serenity as kids were getting back to school and we all were transitioning out of the slower pace of summer.
All of us who are of a certain age can remember exactly where we were when the news began to become clear that America had been attacked and that perfect September morning turned into one of the darkest days in American history. In an instant, American invincibility seemed to vanish, suddenly we were all painfully aware of just how vulnerable – even a country with the most powerful military in the world – is to terrorism.
I will never forget watching as night began to fall on that horrific day when every member of Congress – every Democrat and Republican and Independent – stood shoulder to shoulder on the steps of the Capitol in putting country over party, singing “God Bless America.” It brought tears to my eyes then and it still can, particularly as we reflect on how divided we have become as a country and how those same steps of the Capitol were the scene of the January 6th attack by a mob incited by President Donald Trump. This came after Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, and then broke America’s tradition of a peaceful transition of power by encouraging the insurgency.
I was an international correspondent for The Boston Globe back then and had just transitioned to a new post in London after covering the Middle East and the emergence of Al Qaeda and the fires of the region for much of the previous eight years. By September 19th, 2001, I was on my way to Afghanistan as one of the first journalists to start reporting from on the ground as the US prepared to start missile strikes and then launch the war which would end up being America’s longest war in its history.
It is a journey we documented in our GroundTruth series of reports in 2015 titled “Foreverstan: Afghanistan and The Road to Ending America’s Longest War.” The work I did there with our Director of Photography Ben Brody, a US Army veteran who served in the post 9/11 wars and a team of colleagues, still holds up. And even though the disastrous pull out of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting there would follow five years later, the questions seem to frame how we understand the U.S. mission there. What was accomplished, and what was lost.
To remember 9/11 and the victims of the attack, and to reflect on what that anniversary means this year at a time of polarization within the U.S., I reached out to Kenneth Feinberg, who may just be the most perfect person I know to understand where we are as a country today and how America find a path back to unity.
“There are so many young people who were not even alive when it happened. The memorials that were so common years ago have sort of passed into history,” said Feinberg, a globally respected attorney who has long been called upon by U.S. presidents, families, and survivors to navigate payouts following mass tragedies. He spoke with me for my GroundTruth column and also for a column for the Martha’s Vineyard Times, where I am working part time as the publisher these days and where Feinberg spends summers with his family.
“Now it seems the way to remember is more through a personal reflection,” he said, adding that he planned to share his own reflections at a talk scheduled to mark the day of the anniversary.
Feinberg, 78 and a native of the gritty Massachusetts town of Brockton, started his career as a settlement specialist for Agent Orange after Vietnam, but he is best known for his leadership in overseeing the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), where he served families for 33 months pro bono. By mid-November, 2001, Congress established the 9/11 VCF to compensate the thousands of people who lost a loved one or suffered a physical injury. Feinberg distributed over $7 billion to victim’s families.
“That day shook us to our core. Over 20 years later, I still think there is a pervasive sense that we are no longer invulnerable or immune. We’ve spent decades trying to brace ourselves for a dangerous and uncertain future, and some might say that has caused some errors of judgment in foreign policy. Sen. Kennedy spoke powerfully about this, and about the dangers of going to war in Iraq as have many others and it is a warning about war and its consequences that we still have to ponder,” said Feinberg, referring to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who was among those leading the opposition to attacking Iraq and who Feinberg served as chief of staff from 1975 to 1980.
Feinberg described his work with the victims of 9/11 as the deepest honor of his life, and he said he thinks often of that moment in time back in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 how unified America was.
“There were no red states and no blue states, just one nation in times of a horrible and unprecedented tragedy. We were demonstrating that we are one people in times of tragedy. And we decided to come together to enact a generous compensation program for the victims. Sadly, today I do not think we could get that kind of unity, what I call a communitarian spirit,” he said.
“Looking back, I think we can think of that work as a standard to emulate. This is how we should respond to any threat. It is the highest level of leadership that understands the need for unity, and that promotes civility and a common cause in the worst of times.”
“We saw some of this demonstrated by Vice President Harris last night,” he said, referring to the nationally televised presidential debate between Harris and former President Trump.
He added, “She spoke well, I think, when she stated her determination to focus on unity in this country, and when she told President Trump this election is not about you, or your grievances. This is about how we help our country, how we are going to pull the country together to solve the problems we face.”
After watching the presidential debate, it seems America has a lot of work to do if we are going to pull together and find unity of purpose on the issues that matter. And these days the list of issues that matter is long: from the Middle East engulfed in conflict to the Russian wolf at the door of Ukraine to an uneven economy that plunges us all into a place somewhere between uncertainty and a longing for better days.
How do we find our way back to the steps of the Capitol, not fueled by mob violence and smoldering grievances, but filled with a song of determination, hope and faith that America is truly blessed when it comes together in unity.