What September 11 Taught Me
Lynn Tierney is writing a book about the lessons she learned from 9/11. [Photo courtesy Lynn Tierney]
By Jennifer Merritt
Many lessons came out of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, from the bureaucratic (forcing intelligence agencies to re-examine how they handle terrorism) to the philosophical (forcing all Americans to realize that the United States is not an island).
But for Lynn Tierney, the lessons are much simpler. As deputy fire commissioner of the New York City Fire Department on that day, she led the city’s rescue and recovery efforts in the weeks and months following the attacks, and later served as president of the Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center erected on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. She believes what she learned along the way could be applied to everyday life.
“If somebody encounters a sick child, or a parent dealing with Alzheimer’s, your worldview shifts suddenly,” says Tierney, who is now vice president of communications for the University of California. “It can be shocking and sudden, and people can’t understand how the world could go on. There are many things we went through [on Sept. 11] that align with personal tragedy and difficulty. I thought it might be useful to see how some people—faced with what would look like insurmountable tragedy or sorrow—really rose to the occasion.”
Tierney's at work on a yet-to-be-published book currently titled, Be Not Afraid. In it, she details how she and her team made every effort to bring comfort and peace to the families left shattered by that day. Here are a few of her key takeaways:
Always say “I love you.”
“There can’t be a more important lesson than understanding how precious life is,” she says. “If you have loved ones, you have to tell yourself and tell them every single day how happy you are to be together and how much you love them.”
Honesty is always the best policy.
One week after Sept. 11, Tierney asked 1,500 family members of missing firefighters to come to a meeting. “The letter said, ‘Please bring with you toothbrushes, soda cans, a comb, soiled underwear—anything that might be used for a DNA investigation.’ But we stood up and said, ‘No one is prepared to have a conversation like this. We’re all in this together.’ The more honest you are with people right from the beginning the better off it is.”
Seek help if you need it.
“I went too long without facing up to the fact that I was personally affected,” says Tierney, a self-confessed “crisis junkie.” She speaks not just emotionally, but physically, as she now needs certain medications following Sept. 11. “I would put any chore in front of taking care of myself. You get to a point where you’re no good to anybody else unless you take care of yourself. I found personally I have to be operating from a position of strength and health. I really believe in the medical people who helped me and guided me to a better place.”
Do everything you can in support of first responders.
“I went into that job with a love and respect for first responders, but I came out with a pathological love and respect,” she says. They’re a different kind of person and they’re everyday heroes. Same thing with the military. I feel very, very strongly that we should do everything possible that we can for them, especially if we lose one of them, and do everything we can for their family.”
In case you need a reminder of the lengths first responders went to on 9/11, Tierney recounts this story: “One of the big things that happened to me that day was that I got stuck in the Battery Tunnel. And these guys from Squad 1, whom I knew very well, came through and they knocked on my car and waved,” she recalls. “We all went into the building together, and I’m the only one who came out.
“I went and spoke at their funerals, and I looked right at their families and said, ‘I saw your husband, I saw your dad.’ Mike Esposito, who was the lieutenant, stuck his head in my car—he was a hysterically funny guy—and he gave me a lecture about wearing my helmet. And I looked at his boys and said, ‘Listen to me. On the way into the worst thing in the world—and he knew what he was going into—he stopped with me, he joked with me, he’s giving me safety advice. I’ll tell you what they all did that day. They put their arms around people; they told them where to go, how to behave, and how to get out. And I know they did that because it started with me.”
And with her book, Tierney hopes to carry on their strength.
http://www.parade.com/news/ground-zero/featured/lynn-tierney-interview-lessons-from-sept-11.html
