One of the most notable, yet not well known, acts of valor that occurred on September 11, 2001 was the maritime evacuation of Lower Manhattan. It was the largest water evacuation in American history. 500,000 people were transported to safety in approximately nine hours by hundreds of vessels that answered a call from the U.S. Coast Guard to converge on New York Harbor to aid in the evacuation. In her book, Rebecca Solnit quotes Professor Charles Fritz who helped lead the University of Chicago’ Disaster Research Project in the 1950’s. While conventional wisdom was that disasters bring out the worst in people (think looting or better yet hoarding hand sanitizer) the opposite is much more common. “The widespread sharing of danger, loss and deprivation produces intimate primarily group solidarity among the survivors, which overcomes social isolation, provides a channel for intimate communication and expression, and provides a major source of physical and emotional support and reassurance.” Survivors often feel “a feeling of belonging and a sense of unity rarely achieved under normal circumstances. Everyone understands that this intense solidarity and altruism is but a “temporary utopian society”. Nonetheless it teaches us something important about the human ability to respond to challenges in positive ways. After the utopia wears off, many people go back to relative normalcy. For others survivors, the events of 9/11 continue to challenge them – even 24 years later. One such person is Virginia Buckingham. She was the head of Boston’s Logan Airport on 9/11, the origin of the two planes that crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City. After 9/11 many people, including the media, politicians and some families of victims, wanted to blame Logan Airport and Buckingham specifically for a “failure to prevent” the terrorists from boarding their flights. Never mind that this was pre- TSA, when the airlines were responsible for safety measures at the terminal. Never mind that the focus at airports was on customer service (you could get to the airport 30 minutes before departure), not security. Never mind that Logan’s security was the same, or better, than the security at all other US airports. In the aftermath of an unprecedented catastrophe people want to find a scapegoat, someone that they can blame. The thinking goes that if we find someone to blame we can feel more secure that the problem can be solved, we do not have to worry about it happening again and we can go back to their lives as before. Soon after the attacks Buckingham was asked to resign. She was sued individually by a couple of families who wanted to find her personally responsible. This led Buckingham to question herself: Maybe I am guilty. Maybe I should have known about the threat and stopped them from happening. In her memoir On My Watch, Buckingham tells her story of trauma, grief, depression and resilience. She warns us about the tendency and dangers of scapegoating (good Yom Kippur topic). Ultimately the 9/11 Commission found that Logan Airport was as secure as every other US airport. Both the airport and Buckingham were blameless, and the lawsuits were dismissed. However that did not lead to Virginia immediately forgiving herself and moving on. In fact, as she puts it, she can never move on, only move forward. She does not expect to ever fully recover from her experience. She hopes that she can use those experiences to grow and become a better person. Buckingham lives in the coastal town of Marblehead MA. Due to her many walks along the shore she came to see herself like a piece of sea glass. “Sea glass comes from a broken bottle that the sea has tossed about. It’s completely unrecognizable from what it started as. But it still has value. It’s still beautiful.” These are valuable thoughts as we engage in the challenging yet worthwhile work of Elul and prepare for Yomim Noraim.
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