United we stand against terror – COVID

I was in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001 attending a medical conference. On that morning while walking to my first session of the day, I noticed a large group of people gathered around a large screen TV. I joined the group and in horror watched a plane fly into one of the World Trade Center's towers. Everyone was numb. There was complete silence. I turned around and went back to my hotel room to where my husband was. We turned on the TV and began to watch.

Soon, there was an emergency announcement coming through hidden speakers in the hotel rooms. Washington, D.C. was on lockdown as a third plane had just crashed into the Pentagon. Later that day, the conference was canceled. Participants were distracted and concerned how they would get back to their families since air traffic had been grounded. Many quickly organized and worked together to charter buses to drop people off in their home cities across the country. With the Capital on lockdown, they could leave, but could not reenter. My husband and I decided to stay in DC since we figured we were now in one of the safest places in the country.

Over the next few days, we ventured out. The capital was a ghost town except for the military vehicles in the streets. We visited Arlington National Cemetery from where we could see the gaping hole in the side of the Pentagon with the huge American flag draped near-by. Every fellow citizen we encountered was courteous, respectful, helpful, and quiet. I recall that this behavior continued for the rest of the year. During that time, we were all one in this country. A common enemy's terrorist act united us.

In 2021 there are new enemies. One is a virulent virus which is mutating to become more infectious, more threatening to our children, and is possibly more deadly. This virus has killed more than 200 times the number of fellow citizens in the last 1.5 years, as were killed on 9/11. We have ample highly effective and safe weapons against this enemy – vaccines. Let's all use these weapons to fight this enemy by getting vaccinated.

Two other enemies are wide-spread misinformation and disinformation. These enemies are insidious, and they make us collectively less safe and less healthy. They breed suspicion and distrust of one another. They divide us. Technology based sources such as social media are the vehicles most widely used by these two enemies to spread their deceptive and harmful messages. Fight these enemies by arming yourselves with information from trusted and reliable resources.

On the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, let us remember that we can unite and that we become stronger when we do.

Let's become one again.