We Were Right to Defy the Terrorists
Nick De Bois tells of his shock as he saw events unfold in New York on 9/11 and explains why the Americans were right to respond.
10 Sep 2011, 20:00
Nick de Bois' Memory of 9/11
At the time I was Managing Director of a then small exhibition design and management company. As I walked into the main meeting room of our UK office early on the afternoon of September 11th 2001, our receptionist Sally said to me “a plane has crashed into the Twin Towers, you should take a look at the report on the web”. I replied “alright, I’ll have a look in a second”, just thinking it would have been a light-aircraft which had strayed off course. A sad and unfortunate accident, but not earth shattering news, I thought. I couldn’t have been more wrong
I made my way to join a meeting of my colleagues to discuss the latest client bid we had underway, one of my favourite parts of the job. The meeting never even started. The shocking pictures of what was happening in New York City were by now all over the television screens, all over the internet.
My colleagues and I gathered in the meeting room to watch the events continue to unfold. As we all stood watching the screen the South Tower of the World Trade Centre collapsed. The collapse produced a uniform expression of shock followed by a stunned silence. I was glued to the television screen, like no doubt millions of other people around the world.
As the initial shock of what I’d just witnessed begun to subside, I desperately wanted to get in contact with some of my colleagues who were working at exhibition events in the States. Even though they weren’t working anywhere near New York City, I still wanted to know they were safe. As it turned out, contacting them was no easy thing, but with perseverance we managed to get through.
By then it had become clear that all aircraft were being grounded and we now had to consider how we could possibly get members of staff back from the USA who had been working at exhibition events across the country as show organisers immediately closed down public events. Our efforts were futile because it soon became apparent that we could do nothing from the UK, but it just made us feel better to be trying to do something. As it turned out our team eventually managed to make their way to Canada via cars, buses and trains and were then able to get a flight home.
Overall I was struck by the sense of hopelessness everyone felt that day. Most just wanted “to do” something, others just kept talking to friends, colleagues and relatives as if seeking some sort of comfort or re-assurance. I do remember that many of us also felt angry, very angry.
We were however all acutely aware that things would never be the same again, how could they be? I knew this was going to be a day that changed everything, but I had no idea what that change was going to be. As we look back on the decade that followed 9/11, we can see how that change revealed itself, and it’s clear what a world-changing moment it was. The War on Terror. Iraq. Afghanistan. The 7th July London bombings. The ramifications of 9/11 created conflicts and events that themselves have had huge ramifications, and it is therefore right that we look back and reflect a decade on.
Finally, I recall a week after 9/11 I was due to fly to the States. I wanted to go. I wanted to defy the ability of mass murderers to shut down international air space. Of course I never did go, as it took weeks before the airline industry was able to operate as normal but strangely I always did resent that fact for some time. Whilst I admit I may have lost some perspective; I know many others shared the sentiment. We were right to want to defy the terrorists then, and 10 years on we still continue to do so in many small but significant ways on a daily basis. We must maintain our normality; without that, the terrorists will always win.
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