I am a 9/11 survivor living in Springfield. I was
born and raised here, and after completing college in Chicago, I lived and
worked in New York for 22 years. On Sept. 11, 2001, I escaped from the
collapse of the South Tower — but not without some terrible
consequences. While I feel fortunate to be alive, I think it’s
important to share my experience with those of you who care about what
happened to those of us who were there.
Shortly after that horrific day, President Bush, the
“compassionate conservative,” promised us that we would receive
all of the support that we needed to survive the imminent economic crisis
in Lower Manhattan. He apparently delivered millions of dollars directly to
corporations, but the average citizen received virtually nothing. Over the
next few weeks, the Bush administration coerced the Environmental
Protection Agency into saying it was safe to return in order to persuade
the residents and companies in Lower Manhattan to resume “business as
usual” as soon as possible. Of course, it was not safe. Many of us
became ill and were hospitalized for overexposure to toxic chemicals. I
developed a neurological disorder that may be in part caused by exposure to
toxic chemicals.
Over the next few months, hundreds of thousands of
citizens lost their jobs in Lower Manhattan because of the continuing
collapse of the New York economy. I was one. Also, like so many others, I
applied for unemployment insurance for the first time in my life. But six
months of minimal economic support was not enough to make it possible to
find a new job in a broken city of 9 million people competing desperately
for work in a devastated economy.
In the spring of 2002, Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen.
Hillary Clinton saw the signs of the economic disaster mounting. First, the
senators requested extended unemployment insurance for those who had lost
their jobs as a consequence of the 9/11 attack. But their request was
denied by the Bush administration and the then Republican-controlled
Senate. Second, Senators Schumer and Clinton plead for interim health-care
coverage, at least, for those directly affected. Incredibly, the
Republicans in the Senate refused their plea.
By the fall of 2002, many of us had no employment and
no unemployment insurance. And by the spring of 2003, I was unemployed,
uninsured, and surviving on my life savings until the money ran out.
Eventually and maybe inevitably, I was hospitalized for Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder. Today, I am permanently mentally disabled and live on a
disability income of approximately $400 a month. This fate, which I share
with so many 9/11 survivors, is the direct consequence of the events of
that day and the government’s complete mismanagement of its
aftermath.
The “compassionate conservative”
government promised an ongoing commitment to help those of us who were,
after all, the victims of its failure to protect and defend us. But what do
our conservative leaders mean by saying that they will protect and defend
“us”? They did not protect me and I thought that I was one of
“us.” What do they mean by saying that they have a conservative
compassion for “us”? They have not shown compassion for me and
I thought that I was one of “us.” What do they mean by saying
that they will bring change for “us”? Our conservative leaders
have been responsible for the “change” that they have been
bringing for almost two terms now; they have not brought me any good change
and the bad change that they have brought has been immeasurably
destructive.
If you are happy with the facts of the story above,
then I don’t know that I can reach you. But if you are unhappy with
those same facts, I hope that you will go to the polls in November and cast
a vote for “us.”
William Wilkins, of Springfield, is a former William
Graff Traveling Fellow to Egypt and a graduate of Hunter College in New
York.
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2008.
