Torch, Fall 2006

It was surreal, like a movie. My father was a chaplain in the Air Force when it happened. We were living in Virginia, and he was called to the Pentagon the next day. His job was to take the family members of those killed to a morgue so they could identify the bodies. One man, who was there to see if his brother was dead, started singing hymns and praising God when he saw the burned building. I remember when the members of Congress stood on the steps of Capitol Hill and sang “God Bless America.” I was scheduled to go with my youth group on an evangelism trip to New York City the day after it happened. We decided to go anyway. Usually, when you share the gospel on the street, almost all the people tune you out. On that day, only one or two of us had anyone who wouldn’t talk to us. Political Fallout: Terrorism and Our National Political Conversation By Mark Caleb Smith, Ph.D. 16 TORCH / Fall 2006