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The attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11,2001.Credit:AP

During the centenary commemorations of the Great War,we remembered less about the maneuverings of the Great Powers of Europe than the individuals who fought and died. We read their letters and diaries and empathised with the grief that consumed their families.

How will we remember the events of September 11? So far,we have mainly done so through the lens of terrorism. Mitchell Zuckoff’s bookFall and Rise:The Story of 9/11 repeats a now-startling statistic:a Gallup poll taken on September 10,2001 showed that fewer than 1 per cent of Americans saw terrorism as the nation’s primary concern. Everything soon changed.

September 11,a day so many died,unleashed deadly forces itself that have not been contained. Countless deaths across the Middle East,terrorist acts there and elsewhere,and widespread vilification and demonisation of Muslims. Yet increasingly,in a world more polarised and unsettled than it was in 2001,we seek different meanings from September 11.

In the news frenzy of that day and those that followed there were stories of heroism,sacrifice and bravery,many reported as the fires at Ground Zero still burned. Religious leaders in 2001 reported spikes in attendance as those mourning the dead or seeking to understand a world of random violence sought spiritual comfort.

Zuckoff’s book is packed with the experiences of those who lived through – or died on – that day in New York City,Washington DC and Shanksville,Pennsylvania. It’s harrowing,but what will stay with anyone who reads it are the accounts of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Because they had no choice.

Like when 38 planes packed with 6,579 anxious passengers land on your doorstep. This happened to the town of Gander in Newfoundland,Canada on September 11 and is the premise of the musicalCome from Away,playing to packed houses in Melbourne. The townspeople came together to feed,house and clothe the"plane people",whose flights had been diverted there until they took off again five days later.

I watched the show with tears in my eyes,feeling the anguish of the mother whose son is a New York firefighter. The anxiety of the Muslim man removed from the line to be searched before take-off. The pilot who sings about the barriers she broke through to become the first women to captain a commercial aircraft.

Cast performing in Come From Away in Melbourne.Credit:Jeff Busby

At first,even though I know the words by heart I cringed a little when the actors started singing the hymn inspired by St Francis of Assisi,Make Me a Channel of Your Peace. I feared it would be overcome by sentimentality. But suddenly the tempo and lyrics shifted and the song was infused with Hebrew,Hindi and Arabic. Inclusiveness,bringing compassion and peace,finding hope in despair,seemed like messages to hold onto rather than push away.

Most of all,I suspect what moved the audience was the sense of a community coming together to help others. The sense that small actions can make a big difference even when you have nothing to do with the original catastrophe and are far away from it. There are countless lessons from September 11,but that is surely one of them.

Phillipa McGuinness is the author ofThe Year Everything Changed – 2001.

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