by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Walking around Downtown, eating lunch, listening to conversation — it was virtually impossible to escape the reminder of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. From headlines to somber ceremonies, Monday was a day to both reflect on the significance of 9/11 yet look forward as a country.
“Today is a day we need to think about what happened and a day we need to remember,” said retired Adm. Jonathan Howe. “It was a significant event in the history of our country and the defining event of the post-Cold War period. Nine-eleven was the beginning of the age of terrorism.”
In Hemming Plaza, dozens of local members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue and branches of the military participated in a ceremony honoring those that were killed either during the attacks or in the process of trying to save those in the World Trade Center in New York or the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Howe is a retired Admiral in the United States Navy and his resume indicates he’s knows a thing or two about worldwide intelligence and terrorism. Over his 35-year military career, Howe has served all over the world. He’s a former Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe, Commander US Naval Forces Europe and Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — among many other sea and shore assignments.
Today, Howe is the Executive Director of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations in Jacksonville.
“We provide grants to people in higher education, secondary education, theological education, public television and health care,” said Howe, who was the guest speaker at Monday’s Rotary Club of Jacksonville meeting. “We believe in the saying you ‘Strengthen America first through education.’”
Howe may know as much as anyone locally about terrorism, its origins, its current state and the direction radical movements are heading. Jacksonville, he said, is a relatively secure city.
“Fortunately, this is not New York, but it’s an important place,” said Howe, who stressed that terrorists prefer spectacular events that draw international attention. “We need to remain alert and vigilant. We can see some gaps here, but by and large our security people are doing a good job. There’s a lot to consider here and terrorists are imaginative and innovative.”
While Howe and the rest of the nation marked the fifth anniversary of the attacks with ceremonies and rites, he pointed out the true lessons learned may come in time.
“We only have a five-year perspective,” he said. “In 10 years, we’ll know more and in 20 years we’ll know even more about what that day meant.”
Howe compared the events of 9-11 to the attack on Pearl Harbor 60 years ago.
“Both events galvanized our nation into action,” he said, referring to America’s nearly-immediate entry in World War II after Pearl Harbor. “What’s different was the enemy in World War II was an aggressive nation using traditional weapons. On 9-11, we were attacked by 19 individuals that represented a huge group from remote parts of the world using non-traditional methods.”
Howe said the response of the United States — from invading Iraq to forming the Department of Homeland Security — is responsible for assuring such an attack has not happened since.
“There’s a lot of comfort in the fact we haven’t been attacked in the last five years,” he said. “That says something for the effort that has been made.”