Fort Scott remembers

Sunday, September 10, 2006

By Brett Dalton

Herald-Tribune

Fort Scott, Kan. -- Five years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 against New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, Fort Scott area residents still have clear memories of where they were when they first heard of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

"I definitely know where I was," Karen Jones said, adding she was at Bible study at a fellow church member's house.

"I was getting ready to take my son to school," Scott Moore said.

"I was in school in Dallas," 19-year-old Rachel Lawrence said.

It's probably safe to say that nearly everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard of the attacks. While many people were doing many different things, their reactions were pretty much the same.

"My initial reaction was 'Wow, that's a bad accident for a small plane to hit one of the Twin Towers‚'" Moore said. "Then, when I saw the second plane hit, I didn't know what to think. I just sat in silence and prayed."

Lawrence also found herself speechless.

"I was in disbelief," she said. "Shocked, really."

Television replays of the attack have been increased lately as the five-year anniversary draws nearer. It's those replays that Jones said keep emotions surrounding that infamous day strong.

"I don't know about most people, but every time I see something about the attacks, it sends me back to that day," Jones said. "It just breaks my heart to think that we were invaded like that and so many people were destroyed."

One question about Sept. 11 is whether or not the American people still care about the attacks as much as they did when they happened.

The answers in Fort Scott vary.

"I think people do," Moore said, "but I don't think the media sometimes does. They're always looking for the next big story. Between the media and politicians, I think they sometimes use (the attacks) to get the reaction they want."

Lawrence said she thinks that emotions fade as time goes by.

"The shock has kind of worn off," she said. "You never forget, but I guess it just seems less tragic now."

A major debate is still being waged involving America's response to the attacks, most notably the current war in Iraq. As they do throughout the country, the opinions in this area vary as well.

Moore, for example, thinks attacking Iraq was the right thing to do.

"I really do," he said. "We can argue that it wasn't right to invade Iraq. The thing is, though, that we're fighting terrorists over there, we're not fighting Iraqis. And I'd much rather fight them over there than over here."

Jones said she is somewhat torn in her opinion of the war.

"I believe we should defend our country, and I believe the people over there deserve to be free," Jones said. "Sometimes I wonder, though, how far we need to go."

Some, like Lawrence, don't support the war in Iraq at all.

"I don't think getting into a war was the right thing to do," she said. "I think we just wanted revenge."

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