Nevadans reflect on 'day of terror'

By James R. Campbell

Herald-Tribune

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, worked profound changes in America and its people -- changes that five Nevadans with special perspectives say have been long-lasting and almost too complex to grasp.

Former U.S. Department of State official Sam Foursha

Then the city of Nevada's economic development director, Foursha was attending a conference at Lake of the Ozarks that morning and later joined the State Department for longterm assignments as a reconstruction consultant in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It initially seemed to be an airplane that had gone off course and hit one of the World Trade Center towers," Foursha said. "Witnessing the second plane go in was hugely traumatic.

"Most people at the conference departed early to try to take care of business. It was a difficult time for everybody because it was very much unclear who was responsible and what was going to happen."

Like many people, Foursha expected more horrific attacks and credits the teamwork of agencies like the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security Department for preventing them.

"I did think those guys would be able to perpetrate more attacks because they were clever and well-financed, particularly on the East Coast where the trains carry lots of people and it's difficult to keep the tracks secure," he said.

The former U.S. Navy captain faults the Bush administration for invading Iraq before al-Qaeda had been defeated in Afghanistan.

Referring to the Iraqi prime minister executed in 2006, Foursha said, "There is no doubt Saddam Hussein was a bad guy and removing him from power was a good thing, but we were quick to react to something where the evidence was thin.

"The real target should have been Afghanistan. We should have attacked al-Qaeda there and done what was needed to catch and kill them; but we went into Iraq and allowed some of those guys to get out of Afghanistan when al-Qaeda was not a real presence in Iraq at the time.

"Weapons of mass destruction didn't exist in Iraq and we devoted a great amount of money and resources to something misguided. We didn't have the full story. Before we go to war and pull the trigger to do that, we should have our ducks in line."

However, Foursha credits the "extremely well-trained" American military in both countries for "a really good job that has been incredible to see."

Asked if any unreported terroristic attempts have been thwarted since then, he said he was given that impression by an official in Afghanistan who was the State Department's liaison with the FBI. "I think there have been," Foursha said.

"All the cooperation is a milestone. None of the agencies were talking to one another before, but now they're all singing from the same sheet of music."

He said Taliban leaders, though co-existing with al-Qaeda and letting them operate in Afghanistan before 9-11, "don't want to attack the U.S.

"That has never been their philosophy or mission," Foursha said.

The only publicly known incidents since that black day in the United States or related to America have been the subduing by passengers of a would-be "shoe bomber" on a flight from Paris, France, in December 2001; a mass shooting in which 13 soldiers died in November 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas; the "underwear bomber" thwarted on a flight over Detroit in December 2009; and a failed car bombing on New York City's Times Square in May 2010.

Nevada Chief of Police Graham Burnley

Burnley was the chief master sergeant of Missouri National Guard's State Command and a captain of the Chesterfield Police Department west of St. Louis when the twin towers fell, the Pentagon was hit and United Airlines Flight 93 was brought down by heroic passengers in Pennsylvania. The death toll was almost 3,000.

"A fellow National Guard non-com called me in Chesterfield and said, 'Go turn on the TV,'" said Burnley. "'Something's going on in New York and it looks bad.'

"I said, 'Boys, we're going to war.' Then after Flight 93 crashed, I prayed, 'Dear Lord, please make this stop!'"

Burnley was deployed in 2005 to Manas Airbase in Kyrgyzstan, from which he flew into Uzbekistan and Afghanistan every week to 10 days with then-Col. Randy Kee. "I was on the flight line in Bagram (Afghanistan) re-fueling when I heard an explosion and a guy said, 'Don't worry, it happens all the time.'

"You carried a gun everywhere you went. I saw soldiers wearing M-16 rifles to play volleyball."

Burnley said the U.S. was justified to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. "My personal assessment is that it was the right thing to do," he said.

"Saddam Hussein had killed his own people, violated U.N. agreements and tried to kill former President George H.W. Bush (in 1993). He paid the families of Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel and shot at American pilots after Desert Storm.

"Some people think because Osama bin Laden has been taken out, the war is over," Burnley said. "I don't think so."

He attributes the nation's avoidance of more attacks like 9-11 "to a lot of great people in the field risking their lives.

"You just don't hear about it," the chief said, having often been briefed as a law enforcement leader on what Homeland Security calls "the long war."

"This is a generational thing. It's been 10 years and I hope the efforts of our servicemen and women and law enforcement have made our country safe for my grandchildren.

"You'll never know what they have been able to accomplish because they don't ask for anything but the opportunity to serve their country. That is my definition of a hero."

Cottey College Psychology Professor Selena Kohel

Dr. Kohel, a clinical psychologist who worked on her doctorate in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, in 2005-'06, noticed a big difference in public dialogues in the two countries. "I think there has been a heightened sense of mortality and a greater acknowledgement that we are vulnerable in the U.S.," she said.

"So there is less trust not only among groups associated with 9-11 but also with one another. People are isolating themselves further and having smaller social circles to make sure they're safe, particularly those who were physically or psychologically closer to those events."

While noting the benefits of appreciating servicemen and first responders and getting more attentive to personal relationships, Kohel said Americans have become more emotional since repeatedly watching the disturbing images.

"Whether it's from public TV, the Internet or other media, it seems the tenor of the words used is different," she said. "The language is more emotionally wrought and there is a heightened level of emotion in our society.

"Being away and coming back to Chicago, it was really difficult the first year because of the different tones between the countries with constant attention to the war and a lot of heavy negativity. I think the evolution of helicopter parents also relates to 9-11, hovering over their children, wanting to protect them and making their children afraid to take risks or chances.

"Others want to understand the situation and resolve any perceived conflicts, so it has also had beneficial effects with people trying to take something from that horrific experience and turn it into something good."

Nevada Municipal Airport Manager Jody Bryson

Bryson vividly recalls the grounding of every airplane in America for several days. "It was terrible, an atrocity, and we just had a note from Homeland Security to watch for unusual things around the 10th anniversary," he said.

Now at any airport, Bryson said, "You can't come and go like you used to.

"They tell you to watch for suspicious-looking people who aren't normally around coming in and asking questions."

Nevada's airport has 15 planes based there and two runways, the 5,000-foot No. 02-20, running southeast and northwest, and the 2,600-foot No. 13-31, going southwest-northeast.

Child psychologist Patricia Bridgewater

A member of the Vernon County Youth Task Force, Bridgewater practices at the Wellness Co. and says post-9-11 kids are different in many ways. "I don't know how anyone could have experienced that and not been affected," she said.

"Terrorism happens frequently in European countries and for the first time it hit America. We felt the helplessness; and, I think, understood as a country that we could no longer live a sheltered life. We had to be more security-minded and there was a newfound respect for our men and women at arms and the role they play in protecting our country."

Bridgewater said children who were 3 to 8 years old then have grown up with a sense of vulnerability, "knowing it could happen again.

"I don't think kids are necessarily traumatized, but I do believe there is a national change in consciousness," she said. "Children still think about it and are very aware of the emotional experience that went on with the adults around them. I hear them talk about it once in a while, especially at this time of the year.

"For us it was shocking, but there is an acceptance with the kids growing up that this is the way the U.S. is now. They fully understand anyone can be a target of terrorism and accept the fact that anything can happen."