SIX YEARS AFTER 9/11 ATTACKS, NEVADANS LIVE WITH CHANGES
David Jacobs
Reno Gazette Journal, NV
Posted: 9/9/2007
Tuesday marks the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
assaults on U.S. soil.
Those attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., and the crash of
United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania continue to affect lives
in many ways. From military deployments of loved ones overseas to
security lines at airports, there are daily reminders of 9/11.
Here are some recollections from some local residents as their
lives evolve.
Military family
Susan Fisher of Reno was getting ready to go to the National
Championship Air Races at Stead, when her daughter called. The date
was Sept. 11, 2001.
‘My daughter said, ‘Mom, turn on the TV.’ I said, ‘What channel? She
said, ‘Any channel!’"
About this time, Fisher’s son, Ben Miller, 18 at the time, walked
into the room.
"By this time, they (broadcasters) were speculating terrorists" were
involved. My son said, ‘Mom, are we going to go to war?’ I said, ‘Yeah,
I imagine we probably will. And he said, ‘I’m going to die, aren’t I?’"
Just about a month before the terror attacks, Miller had enlisted in
the Nevada National Guard.
"That scene replayed in my head every day when he was gone" to
Afghanistan, Fisher said.
"The timing of it all was pretty incredible."
Miller was in Afghanistan about a year.
During his deployment, Fisher led the fundraising efforts to
equip the Guard’s base there with Wi-Fi technology that remains in
place. Fisher’s work allows U.S. soldiers to communicate with loved
ones back home.
"Most of them (the soldiers) have laptops," Fisher said. "They can
just stay in their bunks and do e-mail and instant messaging."
One of the soldiers who used the equipment was Sgt.
Patrick Stewart, of Fernley, who died Sept. 25, 2005.
The Chinook helicopter on which he was a flight engineer was shot
down 180 miles southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan.
"Their (Stewart family’s) greatest comfort was knowing that the
hour before he left for that last mission, they were able to instant
message. They were able to say ‘I love you.’"
"That just made everything worthwhile," Fisher said of her Wi-Fi
outreach.
Soldier’s story
Miller served with the Nevada Guard as a Chinook mechanic.
"I definitely wouldn’t have been deployed to Afghanistan had 9/11
not happened," he said this week.
"It delayed my school, delayed my life.
"But I signed up for that reason — money for school, for protecting
our country and serving. When my time came, and I was called, it was
time to go. It’s what had to be done."
Miller, who turns 25 in October, is an international business major
at the University of Nevada, Reno. He also recently re-enlisted with
the Guard for another three years.
"If I get called again, it’s my duty," the sergeant said. "I have to
go again."
Middle East native
For businessman Mostafa Saba, six years ago was a time of personal
transition. About that time, he moved to Reno from Illinois, along
with his family.
A native of Iran, he owns the Shaban Mart off West Seventh Street.
Though the store specializes in Middle Eastern food, he has branched
out to include items from various countries, including Bulgaria,
Armenia and Turkey. The store even carries date cookies from Saudi
Arabia — by way of suburban Detroit.
Saba’s Middle Eastern market features images from his homeland,
including a photo of a 16th century mosque.
"Everybody is very nice to us," said Saba, 67, who is Muslim. "They
(customers) are talking to us all the time. We have a lot of American
people (customers) coming and going."
Saba said he has had no problems in the six years since 9/11.
"Why should I?" he asked rhetorically. "I am always an American,
35 years living here as an American."
Tourism
Ruben Chachagua, 45, could feel the economic impact of 9/11 pretty
quickly.
He’s a chef at a Lake Tahoe-area restaurant, where his specialty
is Mexican cuisine. But with airline flights grounded after 9/11,
he wasn’t cooking as many meals for tourists. Business bounced back,
but Chachagua still feels the impact when he travels to airports.
"It a little bit of hassle with the security and stuff, but you have
to understand that it has to be done," he said. "But I come from a
country that is even worse."
He’s from El Salvador. "Security there was even rougher, especially
at the time I was there, in the 1980s during the civil war."
Vigilance, getting used to it
Since the 9/11 attacks, Jeanne Coughlin thinks more about security
and her surroundings.
"Thoughts go through your mind when you sit while shopping in crowded
conditions," said the 77-year-old from Southern California, who has
family in Reno. "…
You just wonder if there’s anything to be concerned about. I think it
(9/11) has made you more cautious, aware, wherever you are, no matter
what you are doing."
Lu Leung, 32, of Las Vegas, spends about a third of his time
traveling. Some of his frequent stops include Reno, the San Francisco
Bay Area and Lake Tahoe.
"It takes a little bit longer, and people actually take it a lot
more serious," he said of the airport check-in system. "There is a
lot more awareness.
People are more tolerant with the procedures. They have become
accustomed to the changes. That’s just the way it is."