Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Remembering September 11th
September 11, 2007
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

It was easy to decide what to do the Scoutmaster Minute about tonight, on this sixth anniversary of what has become known simply as "9-11". Six years ago today, four teams of nineteen terrorists hi-jacked four US commerical airliners and launched an attack on the United States, the likes of which we have never seen before. You younger guys were only about 4 or 5 at the time. You older guys were 10 or 11, about the age of our younger scouts now.

Hopefully, as you have grown up, you have been taught the signifigance of this event. Not since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941 had the US been attacked on its own soil, and never before had the mainland 48 States ever had such an attack. Almost 3000 people died. For most of us, it was an unbelievable event. But it happened. On TV they re-played scenes of the airplanes striking the buildings over and over.

Although New York city is far from here, the effects were far reaching. Someone I worked with at the time had a son who worked in a building across from the World Trade Center and he watched the buildings crumble to the ground. Projects I was working on were disrupted for weeks because air travel was suspended. When air travel was resumed, each airport seemed to have its own idea of the level of security needed and it took hours to get through the lines. Some say that the US economy is still suffering the effects of that day. Simply put, we were not very prepared for an attack of such nature. We had come to believe that it could never happen.

I heard an interview the other day with Chuck Reed, the mayor of San Jose, and he was asked how the city has changed and has become more prepared to deal with emergencies. He listed several specific programs that had been implemented in recent years, including better communication between emergency agencies and better training of personnel.

It seems that if any good came out of 9-11 it was the fact that our entire country has realized the need to "be prepared". Former President Gerald Ford, the first Eagle Scout to serve as president, often said "more people need to act like Boy Scouts". Indeed, being prepared, the motto of the Boy Scouts for the last 100 years, has been given priority across our country since 9-11.

And that's a good thing. Thanks for listening.