On this anniversary of the tragedy of 9-11, I am compelled to write to you. I am now, and was then, a resident of the National Capital Area, and, as a result, I, like so many others in NYC and DC, was closely impacted by the events of that day. At first, we thought that the attacks were limited to NYC, but we soon discovered that the Pentagon had been attacked as well.
On 9-11-01, I was the Chief of Staff in a political office in McLean, VA, within 10 minutes of the White House and the Pentagon. I arrived in my office just before 9 AM and immediately after the first WTC tower had been hit. I found our staff gathered in the conference room, in varying states of high concern that quickly turned to paralysis from fear. They barely moved for at least an hour. Our office was a branch of local government in VA that, in turn, was part of the DC Capital Area coordinated security effort. Our phones were ringing, but no one could confirm anything at that point.
My husband Bill called me shortly after the first tower was hit. He was in his car on the George Washington Parkway in VA driving to his law office in DC and listening to the radio, and he, the aviation crash expert and former fighter pilot, told me—long before the news media was reporting it— that he believed it was an act of terrorism. In his opinion, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for a plane the size of the one that impacted the first tower to get into NYC airspace without being detected. He turned around on the Parkway, along with many others, and drove to my office to be with me, and together we experienced the attack on the second tower. When we became aware that the Pentagon also had been hit, we thought of our friends and colleagues, who worked there. Fortunately, we did not lose any of those people on that horrific day.
However, we had many friends who were intimately involved in the events of that day. Most of them were lawyers, in many government roles and in private practice supporting some of those efforts. That is one of the reasons I share this with you. As lawyers, we have so many career paths to choose from. In addition to private practice, there are many roles for lawyers in public service, and many of those jobs support national security. Those are very important jobs, and I always give thanks for my fellow lawyers, who are working hard to make sure that our country is safe and that it continues to function for global good as a world leader.
That is what I love about being a lawyer. When the responsibilities of private practice and my expanding family became too challenging, I was able to transition to public service and some of the most valuable and interesting work years of my professional life. It was all a matter of addressing new opportunities and stretching my capabilities and learning new skills. It worked for me and led to a very desirable reentry to private practice.
So, always remember the possibilities and the broad array of experiences that a law degree can present to you. Also remember 9-11 and never forget those who sacrificed so much for our freedom. I know I won’t.
