911 When The Unimaginable Changed What’s Imaginable

by ray stasieczko September 11, 2026

Wichita, Kansas, Sept. 11th, 2001. The convention floor was bustling with Wichita business leaders setting up their booths for the annual job fair.

It was around 8 a.m. in Wichita. In New York City, the clock was approaching 9 AM; in just a few minutes, Americans across the nation would see an image, so horrific that the image and one's physical presence when observed would be stamped into their memory banks forever.

The cell phones were going off, and you could see groups gathering. Back in those days, there were no smartphones, no iPads; Google was only 3 years old with hardly any of today's capabilities.

The news was on CNN live coverage, and once you found a T.V. to watch it on, you became consumed in the disbelief of this horrific act of terrorism.

That Tuesday morning, setting up and planning for a job fair quickly became irrelevant. Those in that Wichita convention center, as those around the world were witnessing, what evil was capable of.

In March of 2001, I turned 40 years old, consumed with a business and walking through the world a bit naive as to the realities of terrorism hitting America in such an unspeakable way. On that Sept. 11th morning, many others and I realized that safety is an illusion regardless of where you live.

It is what happens after any horrific action that defines the humanity of the affected community. On that Sept day, the community was a nation and its friends around the world who awakened to the realities of pure evil.

As we honor all those lost, let’s remember that we, together as a nation, are what protects us from whatever history has thrown our way or what is yet to come.

Our nation’s humility as we mourned the lost was not because we were polarized by politics; we were instead polarized by patriotism. We came together as Americans, as one nation united by our humanity.

When I think back on that time, I remember a compassionate society determined never to allow EVIL to win. 911 was a great act of EVIL; nearly 3,000 souls were lost that Sept. day. We must never forget the reason we united: It was to honor those lost souls and to ensure them we would never forget.

Today I am 65. Like most my age, I have replaced inexperience and naivety with experience; and experience comes with both wisdom and cynicism.

All good people come together when times demand it. So, my wisdom would say, good people are already together before it’s demanded. My cynicism would say, "Evil doers bet that things remain ununited till after their evil is done."

On this sacred day, please remember the fallen, praise the heroes, and never allow evil to win. Let's stay united!

Ray Stasieczko

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