Thirteen years ago I stood in a windowless basement cafeteria at the University of Wisconsin, staring transfixed at a flickering television screen. I watched in horror as men and women leapt from the burning heights of the World Trade Center; moments later I cringed as the second tower fell. My heart sank, and I knew we were at war. Fear — an irrational fear given that I was a thousand miles away in Wisconsin — crept up my spine. I continued to watch as firefighters, police officers and ordinary citizens rushed not away, but rather toward the danger. Courage, I realized, courage would rule the day.
Office of Strategic Communication