Among a slew of uncertainties and emotion, the one question that everyone will remember on Sept. 11 is: Where were you?
Five years ago on that day, the world stopped in its tracks and glued itself to the TV. America had been attacked; New York’s twin towers were collapsing; loved ones were unaccounted for; and the future was uncertain.
Today, the war on terrorism continues: America remains entrenched in Iraq, while Afghanistan lingers on the fringes; traveling is tighter than ever and terrorist attacks are an ever-present threat. The future after 9/11 plagues many people more than thoughts of the crashing towers.
The Village News interviewed 13 people in La Jolla ” from a 10-year-old who felt unaffected by the incident to residents who have lived through Pearl Harbor ” to determine how locals
perceive the attack, and the world, five years later.

How the world changed
While none of the residents interviewed had been directly affected, everyone agreed that the terrorist attacks changed the world. In America, security has tightened and is no longer taken for granted. Islam has become a major focal point. Afghanistan and Iraq have since been invaded, and the U.S. is embroiled in an indefinite “war on terror.”
David Overturf described the war as “boxing shadows.”
“It was an act of war but not from a country,” Overturf said. “It was kind of like boxing shadows. What do you do?”
Seventy-six-year-old Susan Yetiv believes that we are living in “a terror world.”
“They want to harm the West and they want to harm everybody who is not like them,” Yetiv said.
Twenty-three-year-old Lauren Smith celebrated the unifying effect the attack had on America and the influence the U.S. has had in opening the door for women to vote in Afghanistan.
“That is unbelievable progression. From one day being in the house undercover to voting is a really fast change in however few years that was,” she said.
Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Johnson was more critical of the aftermath.
“I think that people are looking to fix things that are pretty hard to fix. It just made things more chaotic everywhere,” Johnson said.
The assault has also transformed many people’s perspectives of Islam, according to 24-year-old Jeff Smith. Fourteen-year-old Haylie Garrie said that people are far more judgmental of Middle Eastern people, which she believes is “not good.”
“And that’s too bad, because obviously these are extremists and there are all types of extremists of every denomination of every religion,” Jeff Smith said.
He is surprised that more terrorist attacks haven’t occurred in America in the past five years, he added.
“More than anything, I’m real anxious that in an effort to make a statement, the terrorists will try to strike again,” he said. “And I’m actually surprised that it hasn’t happened because part of terrorism is fear. And on days when you know that security is heightened, and they do things to say, ‘Look, we still can do this,’ that instills more fear.”

Individual change
For many, 9/11/01 jarred them into perceiving an aspect of the world with new eyes. While some grasped a new understanding of Islam, others become more inquisitive about the federal government and its foreign policy. National security entered the forefront for some.
Twenty-five-year-old Lindsey Hassett believes that people are now more careful and distrustful.
“We have to live our lives with more caution and skepticism and more scrutiny of other cultures. It sort of changed that dynamic,” Hassett said.
Overturf felt that 9/11 awakened him to the violence of Islam.
“From before I didn’t realize that there was such a violent religion, like 10 percent of it [Islam] is very embracing of the violence. That was interesting and scary,” Overturf said.
The terrorist attacks raised Smith’s awareness of the many conflicts and struggles in the world. Yetiv was shocked that the U.S. government and the FBI knew nothing about the attack and the terrorists who were living in America. Johnson said he grew more interested in the government.
“It made me think about how our government reacts to stuff that happens. It just makes you think about the government,” Johnson said.
For 23-year-old Porter Smith, the terrorist attack solidified for him that America is always going to be involved in a spiritual battle and that he has a part to play in that.
“I know that America has always been targeted because we stand for freedom,” he said. “We have the freedom to worship who we want to worship and to do what we want to do. Most of that freedom is from what God gives us and what the people who founded the country stood on.”

Remembering the day
Seeing planes fly into the World Trade Center five years ago was at first surreal. Johnson said that he thought it was a joke on the radio. When Porter Smith’s little brother awakened him to tell him about the attack, Smith figured a small plane had crashed into a building. Feelings of alarm and thoughts of “what next” quickly followed the initial shock, however.
While the interviewees said that they will take time to remember the victims, none plan to formally commemorate the day.
“But we’re not looking back anymore,” Porter Smith said.
For those who would like to participate in a 9/11 memorial, a Freedom Walk will take place beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 11. The 2-mile “America Supports You Freedom Walk” presented by DefenseWeb will start at the Veteran’s Museum and Memorial Center, 2115 Park Blvd., and proceed through Balboa Park. The walk will take place continuously from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so that walkers may take part anytime within that window. Operation Homefront is hosting the free event.
For information, visit www.operationhomefront.net/sandiego.