REFLECTIONS On the Anniversary of 9/11

by Jim Evans

“Life, as we knew it, will never be the same again.” — Jacquie Evans

Even though airline passenger traffic is approaching pre-Sept. 11 levels, according to Dave Smallen, director of public affairs for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and it has climbed “just above the level of the industry’s last ‘normal’ year in 2000,” according to the International Air Transport Association, Maryella Doll refuses to fly anymore.

The 47-year-old Ramona resident was living in Bremerton, Wash., when terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center towers in 2001. Her husband, Bob, a Navy Com-mander, was deployed on the USS Carl Vinson near the coast of India. Just two days later, he was floating off the coast of Iraq.

“I was tending to one of our greyhounds that had recently been injured, and I could hear the TV droning in the background,” Maryella Doll said. “Every time I glanced at the screen, I saw this plane crashing into a building over and over again, and I thought to myself that I wished they would stop making all of these disaster movies.

“It was only when I went to change the channel that I realized every station was showing the same footage, and that the disaster wasn’t a movie — it was real! I just haven’t been able to think about flying ever since.”

She is not alone. It has taken almost three years for air traffic to recover, and many people — like Doll — still refuse to fly, opting for alternative forms of transportation, regardless of the inconvenience.

Karl Burkart of Ramona feels comfortable about flying in the continental United States, but he would probably not fly to Europe.

“I think we have improved security at our own airports,” Burkart said, “but I’m not so sure about the international situation, so I don’t think I would feel comfortable flying to Europe or anywhere beyond our domestic borders.”

Burkart, owner of Karlton’s Limousine Service in Ramona, lost almost 60 percent of his business after 9/11.

“A lot of our business was dedicated to transporting people to the airport, and our calls dropped off considerably after the attack. We have completely recovered now, but 9/11 definitely had a negative impact on our business,” he said.

Bob Doll isn’t squeamish about flying since 9/11, but the Navy veteran was motivated to “re-up” for another tour of duty within months after the attack — not because he was gung-ho to go to battle but, because his 18 years of military training and experience simply became more meaningful.

“We came through Pearl Harbor on the way back home from Iraq, and the sight of the battleships Missouri and the Arizona (sunk during the infamous attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor) reminded me of just how important everything that we do really is for the safety and security of our nation,” he said.

Hundreds of e-mail letters were received by the USS Carl Vinson every day from U.S. well-wishers after the 9/11 attack. Typical was this message from Dave Burns and family from Moscow Mills, Mo: “All America is with you. I know you can feel our pride in you as you go about the task of ridding the world of terrorist threats. My family and I live under your umbrella of safety, and we thank you with all of our hearts. Godspeed and God bless you all!”

Messages like these had a profound effect on the morale of our troops.

Bob Doll also was inspired by the public’s overwhelming response when his carrier arrived back in the continental United States.

“We had anticipated that there would probably be a lot of people turning out to greet us when we arrived in San Diego, and we were right,” he said. “It was a beautiful sunny day so typical of San Diego, and there was a huge crowd waiting for us — even the Budweiser Clydesdales.

“But later, when we pulled into Bremerton, Wash., the sky was gray and overcast, and it was raining, yet more than 10,000 people showed up to meet us. That had a big impact on all of us. There seemed to be a newfound respect and appreciation for the military, and I felt good about what I was doing.”

Juanita Putney, 83, from Indianola, Iowa, recently visited her daughter in Ramona and recalled that she was working on an oil painting when the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

“I was in the basement at home when my husband, Darrel, came downstairs and told me to turn on the television right away,” she said. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing — it was so terrible — and I felt so badly for the victims and their families. Since I did not know any of the victims, it has not impacted me on a personal level but, in the broader sense, it has made me more apprehensive because, for the first time — unlike other wars — we have been attacked on our own soil.”

Flying is not a concern to Putney, because she and her husband flew from Des Moines to San Diego’s Lindbergh Field airport to visit her daughter in Ramona, but “the increased security has certainly made it more difficult to travel compared to how it used to be,” she said.

“I felt as though our nation lost its innocence after 9/11,” Jacquie Evans said. “I have a business associate from Israel who visited us a couple of years ago, and when we went to lunch at a local restaurant in San Diego, he purposely sat in the back of the restaurant facing the front door so that he could see everyone entering the restaurant.

“He apologized but explained that these basic precautions have become necessary in his country because of terrorism. Israelis have had to become more aware of their surroundings and more suspicious of strangers and unusual behavior everywhere they go. It has become a way of life for them.

“I thought to myself at the time how sad it must be for people to live their lives on the edge all the time because of the threat of terrorism, but now it has become a way of life for us too. And when I listen to music from the past — before 9/11 — it reminds me more than ever that life, as we knew it, will never be the same again.”