I had to live with the daily reality of terrorism during a year in Vietnam stationed at a military hospital—a country where no place was really safe. I had been in London when IRA mortars fell for days on Heathrow airport where I was waiting to board a flight. I have been in the Middle East several times and have seen the anxiety and tight security there where terrorism is a reality of daily life.
In Peru I had close calls with terrorist groups there and watched part of Lima airport on fire from the air.
Throughout the world where terrorism is sadly a fact of life people have learned what Americans must now learn—that the greatest victory over terrorists is to live as routinely as possible. To change your life—to live in constant fear—is to give in to the terrorists, to let them win.
On Sept. 11 I was on my way to a medical appointment in the Loop at 9:30 a.m. As I was crossing over the State Street bridge heading south it was evident there was a mass exodus of cell phone-clutching people heading out of the Loop—you could see the fear in their faces. I could catch snatches of conversations—”We are being evacuated, they are sending us home.” Long lines formed at bus stops and many people said they were glad to be “getting out of the downtown area.” When I got to the medical building it was closing. At Carsons on State St. it was deserted. Old Navy was closed and when I stopped by the bakery at Marshall Fields on State St. it was closing as security guards herded customers to doors. As I live in a landmark Loop twin tower, I was not among those leaving the Loop, which was eerily quiet all day and into the night. Even the jackhammers on the Wacker project were quiet. I could look out at a deserted Navy Pier and empty streets. In such ordinary ways life in Chicago had been changed by terrorism coming to America.
Now that reality has set in we will mourn the dead, help the wounded and get on with our lives. One local news person noted that when we look up at the Hancock building and Sears Tower, we will never feel safe again.
That type of talk lets the terrorists win. Yes, life has changed in America with the East Coast attacks but it will go on. To defeat terrorism we must live. To live in fear, in constant fear, is to give the terrorists the victory they so crave. Every American can be part of this war by refusing to live in terror, by refusing to change his or her life and routine to suit the needs of terrorists.
While some high-rise residents did leave the city to stay with family, the overwhelming majority stayed. In this small way they waged war against the terrorism that has now come to America—a first step in a long campaign to preserve a way of life and freedoms we cherish and which no one—no matter how horrific and cowardly an act they may commit against the innocent—will ever destroy.
Joan M. Maiman
Loop
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