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Highlands Today

What's Changed Since 9-11?

File photo, Highlands Today

One of the murals in Lake Placid reminds passing motorists to remember the fallen heroes from Sept. 11, 2001.

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: September 11, 2008

SEBRING - From man-on-the-street interviews on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, most people applauded the government's response and said they feel the country is safer now.

Some people, though, said the country went the wrong way in invading Iraq to fight the "War on Terror," and some think we're spending far too much both on homeland security and pursuing the overseas wars.

"It (9-11 attacks) really hasn't changed my life dramatically," said Summer Hensley, of Wauchula, a student at South Florida Community College. "But," she added, referring to the country's response to the terror attacks, "I love what it's done in America, because it's made us more patriotic, and it's put priorities where they need to be."

Jeff Rolen of Sebring gave high marks to the federal government's response to the attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, although he has mixed feelings about the subsequent changes in our rights to privacy.

"I think our country is safer today," he said. "I think the government has done a really good job of making us safer."

Rolen pointed out that Americans have lost some rights to privacy as the government had to get "stricter" in trying to prevent terrorist attacks. That, he said, is "both good and bad," but it hasn't changed his perception of his country.

"America was the land of the free and the home of the brave, and it still is," Rolen said. "People still come to this country from other countries to find opportunity. I'd rather be here than anywhere else. America is still the best country in the world."

Justin Driggers of Sebring wouldn't argue with the U.S.A. being the best country, but he doesn't agree with the nation's war policies since 9-11.

"I think we kind of went in the wrong direction with it," he said. "I think we should have sent our troops to Afghanistan to fight the war, rather than to Iraq, where Al Qaeda is not."

Patrick Fox, of Sebring, said, "It's (9-11) obviously helped us become a lot safer.

"A lot of people think it's overdone," he added, referring to homeland security measures. "But I think it's warranted."

Missy Wojciechowski said she sees a safer, more secure America seven years after the 9-11 terror attacks.

"I think it's definitely changed it (American security) for the better. It changed around how everybody feels about security."

After a pause, Wojciechowski added, "It was a terrible, terrible thing that happened."

Sylvain Lavoie, of West Palm Beach, is in Sebring temporarily, working on a construction project.

"I think we're wasting a lot of money on it, and it's overkill," he said. Lavoie said he was referring both to Homeland Security measures and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The whole thing, I think it's a big waste of money," he added. "We should secure our own borders. I think that would be a priority, to fix our own borders, before we go overseas trying to solve other people's problems."

Memories of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks will always remain crystal clear for Ellie Marshall of Sebring.

"I was there," she said. "I just got into New York on the 10th of September. I was waiting to see my son, an airline pilot who was flying into Kennedy (airport) that morning." He was supposed to arrive about 10 a.m., but when the hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center, she recalled, "they diverted his plane to Buffalo."

Marshall said she still thinks of Sept. 11, 2001, and of the possibility of another such terrorist attack, as "scary."

"I keep wondering if it will happen again," she said. "But I'm glad that we've been safe for seven years now. And I think our government has done a wonderful job."

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