My friend worked in Prince George’s County in Maryland, and he was driving to work on the freeway on September 11, 2001, when two fighter jets roared into the air from Andrews Air Force Base. He thought the launch was unusual, but he would not find out about the attack in New York City until he arrived at work. Later on, he learned that those two fighters were to intercept the remaining hijacked plane before it could cause civilian carnage in Washington, D.C.
We know that United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. But those fighter pilots had taken off immediately without the time to arm the jets with missiles. Their mission was to ram the hijacked plane, sacrificing their lives along with the passengers.
On 9/11, I pray for the dead and their grieving survivors. I shiver at the depths of human cruelty. And my eyes well with tears when I consider the heights of bravery: the police and firefighters rushing again and again into the Towers; the citizens, from stock traders to janitors, helping people escape to safety. I remember the first responders at the Pentagon as well as the passengers on Flight 93 who revolted against the hijackers. These people are all heroes.
On other days of the year, I might use the word “hero” too casually, such as in reference to a baseball game. But now you, too, know the story of two more heroes, Lt. Col. Marc Sasseville and 1st Lt. Heather Penney. I try to imagine what it would be like to receive orders to sacrifice my life for complete strangers and push the throttle, soaring through the blue sky of a late summer morning and leaving everyone I loved behind.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.
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