Remembering September 11

Longtime FWCD former faculty member Bill Arnold ’86 shared personal reflections with Upper School students this week about September 11 – the day that changed the world and profoundly shaped his own life. 

Arnold encouraged students to consider how historical events affect different generations. While younger Americans indicate the introduction of the iPhone, COVID-19, climate change, or the rise of social media as defining events, surveys show that for the Millennial Generation, Generation X, the Baby Boomer Generation, and the Silent Generation, September 11 is among the most significant events of their lifetimes.

He introduced students to the idea of “ambiguous loss,” a term he uses to describe the uncertainty and lasting effects of loss that aren’t always easy to see. For many people, 9/11 represented the loss of a world – and a sense of the future – that they had once taken for granted. For veterans and military families, that loss could take another form. Arnold described how he has seen and experienced how those who are no longer living can remain “physically absent and psychologically present.” In contrast, others may be “physically present, but psychologically absent” because of what they experienced. Arnold suggested that this kind of loss can affect people and communities long after the original event, which might be why September 11 remains so significant to generations who lived through it. 

He then brought students back to the morning of September 11, 2001, at Fort Worth Country Day, where he was teaching history. He learned from then Head of Upper School John O’Reilly that a plane had crashed into a building in New York City. After learning that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, Arnold returned to his classroom and turned on a small radio he had in his classroom. “And here’s what I told my students: I said, take out your notebook. Put down the time and the date. And for the next 45 minutes, we’re not going to talk,” he said. “ I want you to write down everything you hear. We’ll process it later.” He then showed his handwritten notes from that morning: Twelve pages of nearly illegible writing, reflecting the uncertainty and confusion of a rapidly unfolding historic event.

Arnold also reflected on the leadership at FWCD that day, particularly O’Reilly, who addressed Upper School students and faculty, shared what was known and allowed students and faculty to leave if they wished. As the day continued, the FWCD community gathered around a television in the Moncrief Library, watching events unfold in an atmosphere Arnold remembers as marked by silence.

For Arnold, the effects of September 11 extended far beyond that day. As a former Marine, he reenlisted and was activated about 18 months later. Arnold received the call in his FWCD classroom and immediately told O’Reilly and then Head of School Evan Peterson H’15. He spent a year serving in Iraq, commanding a Marine Scout platoon as they fought to retake Fallujah. Arnold has chronicled these experiences and more in his new book, A Teacher’s War, which he will speak about in a program on Saturday, September 26, at 9 a.m. in the Moncrief Library. 

Arnold closed by reflecting on one of his favorite FWCD traditions: assemblies. “They are places where the community gathers, celebrates, learns and processes our ambiguous loss.” He stressed how understanding the experiences of those who lived through them can deepen our understanding of one another. For students born years after 9/11, hearing Arnold’s firsthand account offered a powerful opportunity to listen, reflect and remember as the nation commemorates the 25th anniversary of September 11. 

To RSVP for Bill Arnold’s program on Saturday, September 26, email [email protected].