WALLA WALLA, Wash. - This week we've been listening to reflections of Northwesterners on 9/11 as the 10th anniversary approaches. Today we hear from Professor Darold Bigger, who is a retired U.S. Navy chaplain. He was at the Pentagon on 9/11 and shares his memory of that day, and how it changed our world.
Bigger: "I was due to come home actually, the next day to teach at Walla Walla fall quarter. And while I was working at the desk finishing up paperwork heard a loud, screaming airplane fly very close over the top of our building; and a thud afterward. Fire alarms went off and when we evacuated the building where we were, we saw smoke and fire at the Pentagon -- it was very clear what had happened."
Bigger: "One woman when she spotted us group of chapas came running over towards us screaming 'Is this the end of the world? Is this the end of the world?' Terrified. And that was a much more symbolic statement than I realized at the time. The world as we had known it was… gone. And our vulnerability as a nation, the fragility of life was imposed on us in a way that most of us had not experienced before."
Bigger: "They asked for volunteers then to go down to the Pentagon and hundreds of us went. I spent some time under an overpass visiting with burn victims that were being brought out of the Pentagon, and it was a very sobering time. One can’t pretend anymore that all is well when you face that kind of tragedy. You recognize how quickly your sense of security can disintegrate."
Bigger: "A good thing that comes out of that for me is to see how that attack galvanized people who either didn’t know one another, or may even have been on opposite sides of discussion groups or political points of view or national or religious perspectives; how quickly they all galvanized and cooperated with one another. With a common need, the American spirit came to the floor and that has been a great encouragement to me. And the respect with which the bodies that were being found were treated was also an encouragement. The sanctity of life comes to the floor at times like that, and we realize how precious life is and how crucially important and valuable every other human being around us is."
Copyright 2011 Northwest News Network
Northwest Professor and Former Navy Chaplain Reflects on 9/11
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