A Conversation With My Son. Are You Having This Conversation?

On this 16th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I thought I'd repost the conversation I shared with my son a year ago to this day. 

"Did you watch the movie at school about 9/11?"

"Yeah."

"Have I ever told you about what I remember about that day? I had watched the first part of the Today Show and from the stories they were covering that morning I remember thinking, 'must be a slow news day' so I started switching channels. Your dad called and said, 'Did you hear? A plane crashed into the World Trade Center.' I assumed it was a small private plane that had lost control but I quickly turned back to the Today Show and there was the live coverage. 

Of course no one knew exactly what had happened. Terrorism was under suspicion but that didn’t become clear until the second plane hit. Then when the third plane hit the Pentagon it was really scary and almost surreal. It was hard to grasp that our country was actually being attacked, and we didn’t know where it would end. What else was planned? Your dad came home from work. I called Grandma and Grandpa and other family to see where they were and make sure they were okay. Air traffic control ordered all planes to land. But there was one plane that kept flying.”

“Flight 93?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s roll?”

I smiled. “You remember me telling you about that? How the passengers fought back?"

He nodded.

“Your dad and I stayed glued to the television set. It was horrible. I can remember seeing things falling from the towers and realizing those were people who were jumping to their deaths.”

“Why would they do that?”

“There was no other way out. Fire was all around them. And I can remember seeing the towers leaning, thinking those are going to fall. They stood for awhile but you could see it. You could see they were going to fall. And imagine all the firefighters and first responders. They ran into those buildings, even though they were full of fire and could collapse at any minute. Can you imagine running into a building that looked like that? They ran into those buildings to try and save people.”

At this point I had to stop. My tears were too close to falling.

“Mom, the movie at school talked about the good in 9/11.”

I looked at him. “The good?”

“Well yeah. I mean, it told stories about how people helped each other.”

I nodded. “Yes, people did help each other. They worked together and in the days following 9/11 we all really felt … I don’t know, united, patriotic. You know how people chant USA USA USA? People were chanting that a lot.”

I went on to tell him about how Jay Leno said in his first monologue after the attacks that we’d been sucker-punched. I told him that a concert was given to raise money for the victims and their families and all kinds of artists and celebrities pitched in to help. Tom Petty sang “I Won’t Back Down” and I can remember thinking about what an appropriate song that was to sing, and how to this day I always identify that song with September 11^th. I told him how we as Americans knew that our country would fight back, and feeling pride when the news broke that our troops had invaded Afghanistan. I told him that despite all the talk he may hear about the war in Iraq and whether it was justified, that I believe that George W. Bush is a good man, and always had America’s best interests at heart.

Then I told him the story about what happened at the Minneapolis airport, not too long after the attacks. I don’t remember where we were traveling, but our family was waiting for our flight. The gate was so crowded we couldn’t even find seats so we sat on the floor. Finally our plane arrived and the door opened for the passengers to deplane. We watched as service member after service member came through the door and were greeted by their families. I remember tearing up as I watched people hug their loved ones like they never wanted to let them go. And then the coolest thing happened that I will never forget. People started to clap. As the military members and their families started walking through the airport people stopped what they were doing and stood aside to applaud them as they walked by. 

It wasn’t planned. 

It wasn’t organized. 

We were simply Americans, united by tragedy and applauding those who were defending our country.

These are the stories that may not be covered in textbooks, but we can pass them down. What about you? What do you tell your children about that fateful day?

Kinzie, Kibblestan and American Sniper

When you're writing a novel it's important to know your characters inside and out, including their backstory. In writing my second book, The Chronicles of Kibblestan: Canines, I really struggled. I had a good story -- a dog that's gone missing in a Kibblestan that has drastically changed since the first book in the series. Kibblestan is no longer a happy place, there's something sinister about the canines, and my eleven-year-old heroine, Kinzie, is determined to find her missing dog, no matter what the cost. But for some reason there was a disconnect. While Kinzie's actions and story flowed onto the page, her heart and soul stayed just beyond reach. I couldn't figure out her backstory and the writing showed.

Then I went and saw the movie American Sniper, and Kinzie's backstory hit me hard. I came home that day, went straight to my computer and typed out that first chapter like it was nothing.

I recently attended a Veterans Day event at my son's school, and my heart twisted when the speaker asked the kids to raise their hands if they had a parent in the military and close to a hundred kids raised their hands. They sacrifice, too, and I hope that my book can play a small part in showing my appreciation to our military families.

In honor of Veterans' Day, I'd like to share an excerpt:

“Dad?” Kinzie said. “Do you really have to go again? Can’t you get out of it somehow and stay here where it’s safe? With me? Please?”

Dad squeezed Kinzie’s hand. “I’m sorry, punkin. I’ve got to go. I’m a soldier. It’s what I do.”

“But I’m going to miss you so much.” Kinzie blinked back tears. “And Ria will, too.”

Dad squeezed her hand harder. “I know. It’s going to be rough. But you’ll be moving into that new house with your mom and Nate. It’ll be exciting.”

Exciting? Yeah, right. New house, new school, new stepdad and stepsiblings. Even Mo was gaining two new step dogs.

“And we’ll video chat as much as we can. Time’ll fly. Before you know it, I’ll be back.” Dad smiled but Kinzie knew better. This wasn’t like the last time he left, when she was too young to fully understand. This time she did understand, a little too much. She understood that sometimes, soldiers don’t come back, and this knowledge was like an icicle lodged deep in her heart that refused to melt.

Kinzie sat up and reached for her father, hugging him around his neck while she wept on his shoulder.

“I don’t want you to go, Dad. Why do you have to go? Why? Why can’t it be someone else’s mom or dad? Why does it have to be you?”

Dad returned Kinzie’s embrace, gently patting her back. “There, there, punkin. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.”

Kinzie lifted her head and stared into Dad’s eyes. “But what if it’s not? What if you don’t come back?”

Dad took a finger and wiped the tears from Kinzie’s face. “Look. A wise man once said that the only way for evil to win, is for good people to do nothing. And unfortunately, there’s evil in the world. Lots of it. And to keep it from spreading, to keep our own country and freedoms protected, well, the good guys can’t do nothing. Understand?”

Slowly, Kinzie nodded. Dad pulled her close and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Sweetie, America may not be perfect, but make no mistake—we’re the good guys. And when evil’s a threat, we can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

To read the entire chapter click here for Amazon's Look Inside feature. 

For other patriotic children's books, including a special book for the younger set called "Veterans: Heroes in Our Neighborhood" visit conservativechildrensbooks.com.

Yes, Even a Kid Can Make a Difference

This blog post is a continuation of my first two posts entitled How a Writer's Decision to Give a Character Backstory Altered a Little Slice of WWII History. If you missed Part One of this blog post, Click Here. If you missed Part Two, Click Here.

So how does an eleven-year-old boy watching Jaws have an effect on World War II history? If you’re Hunter Scott, you decide that Quint’s story is pretty fascinating, and would make a very good History Fair Project. If you’re Hunter Scott’s dad, you tell him to go to the library to do research, as Google was not yet a verb. So Hunter searched the history books, old newspaper articles and scoured the Internet but couldn’t find much information about one of the worst disasters in U.S. Navy history, and Hunter and his dad found this kind of … strange. 

Hunter didn’t give up in his quest for information, though. He advertised in a local Navy newspaper that he was looking to interview survivors of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and found a survivor who lived close by. This man’s firsthand account of surviving for five days in shark-infested waters made Quint’s story sound like a casual swim. He gave Hunter a list of names of other survivors, many who were happy to connect with this eleven-year-old boy and tell their stories—stories that some had kept buried deep inside for years. Hunter recorded the tales of these heroic men, who had suffered on a level that’s hard for most of us to fathom. Their stories are grave reminders of the true horror of war, as well as inspiring testimonials of how the human spirit can triumph against unspeakable odds. And as Hunter interviewed survivor after survivor, he heard one common concern that was voiced repeatedly. These men insisted that their captain had been unfairly court-martialed. 

You see, the night of the sinking had been dark with poor visibility. Warnings of Japanese submarines in the area had not been taken seriously, so were never passed along to Captain McVay. In fact, he had been denied his request for an escort and was told he could zigzag at his discretion--indicating that the Navy did not think their route was dangerous enough to take these precautions. Zigzagging is something a captain would do in conditions of clear visibility and a high probability of enemy submarines in the area; however to Captain McVay’s knowledge, neither situation applied. However, after the tragedy the Navy decided they needed someone to blame. Instead of focusing on a series of errors that could have prevented the tragedy, the Navy court-martialed Captain McVay for hazarding his ship by not zigzagging. 

Sadly, Hunter couldn’t interview the captain to hear his defense. Captain McVay had committed suicide years after the sinking. The other survivors could defend him, though, and they wanted to clear his name. But how could they make the Navy listen? They’d been trying to for decades, without success. 

Could an eleven-year-old boy make a difference?

To make a long story short the answer is yes, he could – and he did. Hunter had put his Indianapolis History Fair Project on display in Congressman Joe Scarborough's local office. (This was in the days before Joe made a living bickering with Mika Brzezinski each morning on MSNBC). People started visiting Scarborough's office just to see the display, and eventually he offered to help Hunter and the Indianapolis survivors in their quest to clear Captain McVay’s name. Legislation that exonerated Captain McVay was drafted and introduced to Congress and eventually Hunter's and the Indianapolis survivors' persistence paid off. The legislation was passed and signed by President Bill Clinton.

I have only skimmed the surface of this story, but it really is a good one that’s an awesome reminder  of how just one person – even a kid – can make a difference in a world that I think we all can agree is getting crazier by the minute. It’s also a reminder to be thankful to our men and women who serve, past and present. As the saying goes, freedom isn’t free, and sometimes it’s easy to take their sacrifices for granted. 

For more on this story, I urge you to read Hunter’s book, Left for Dead.

It’s been years since I’ve read it, but it obviously has stuck with me.

Lastly, you might hearing a lot more about the U.S.S. Indianapolis in the coming months, as a movie is being made about it starring Nicholas Cage. However, as I researched for this blog post I came across another film that looks really interesting. Films by Serendipity has been interviewing survivors for the past ten years, allowing them to tell their stories and now made a documentary called The U.S.S. Indianapolis: The Legacy.  Very cool, if you ask me!