The End of the Innocence
WMMM #116- This week I share my memories of just another workday 25 years ago next week.
Jeff Keplar Newsletter August 29, 2026 5 min read
Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming
Almost like clockwork, a cool front had moved through North Texas over the weekend, clearing out the late-summer humidity and setting up mild, clear, and dry early-fall weather for the week ahead.
It was a gorgeous Tuesday morning in September, and I was on an early flight headed to Dulles.
And it wasn’t just the weather, I felt energized about that time of year.
It was the week after Labor Day.
The US Open tennis tournament had just concluded its annual 2-week run.
A “changing of the guard” had occurred with Australian Lleyton Hewitt winning his first Grand Slam by defeating 13-time Grand Slam Champ Pete Sampras in straight sets.
Football was back.
Even though my Dallas Cowboys had lost a yawner to Tampa Bay (10-6), I loved following the NFL.
My role required national travel and interacting with business leaders.
Knowing a little about their local sports teams came in handy.
Since I was headed east this week, I was prepared for commiserating with Washington and New York Giants fans - both had lost their openers on the road.
The Ravens, on the other hand, had beaten the Bears at home.
Baltimore fans would be very happy.
Speaking of business, when it’s your job to create commerce, there is no better time than the period between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
The business world just seems to have a hustle bustle feel - people have a jump in their step.
Back-to-work after summer vacations.
Places to be and people to see.
Life was firing on all cylinders.
It was the kind of morning where you tell yourself: pinch me, I must be dreaming.
Then came the turn.
The First Sign of Trouble
Shawn was already waiting in Reston, VA, for me to arrive, as we had a business meeting with the President of XO Communications that day.
My plane was at the halfway mark of its flight plan, just approaching Louisville, KY, 35,000 feet below, when all hell broke loose in the North American airspace.
One of our fellow passengers called a flight attendant to his seat to show her what he was seeing on his Blackberry.
The person sitting next to me worked for Dell Computers.
We watched as the flight attendant knocked on the door of the cockpit.
A moment later, the captain announced that our flight was being directed back to Dallas/Ft Worth due to an incident “with a small plane in New York.”
Our first impression was confusion.
We weren’t headed to New York, so why turn back?
As our plane circled to retrace the path back to DFW, two flight attendants were now at that guy’s seat, viewing news updates on his Blackberry.
This time, that flight attendant’s face indicated a new development in the news that frightened her.
There was no announcement from the pilot, but the news trickled back to us quickly.
It wasn’t a small plane; it was a passenger plane that had flown into a skyscraper in downtown NYC.
I’d Rather Have Both Feet on the Ground Right Now
The ride back to DFW seemed to take forever as the updates kept coming, and the news became horrifying.
We learned that two planes crashed into skyscrapers, one of them an American Airlines jet like the one we were on. When the skyscrapers were identified as the Twin Towers of The World Trade Center, the salesperson from Dell began to sob.
She had appointments in NYC at the WTC later that week.
Once our plane landed, it was sequestered on the tarmac for what felt like an eternity.
While we were returning, two more aircraft were hijacked, and one was flown into the Pentagon, near Dulles Airport, our original destination.
Now, the authorities had to suspect every plane in the air that day potentially having terrorists on board.
They would not let our aircraft anywhere near the airport and had us park on a remote runway.
We were finally released at around 2:30 p.m., approximately nine (9) hours after boarding.
I cannot remember a time when I was more relieved to be anywhere but on that aircraft.
Terrorism
“...the unlawful use or threat of violence…”
“...predominantly directed at civilians…”
“...intended to instill fear, coerce a population, or force a government to act (or refrain from acting)...”
“...in furtherance of political, ideological, religious, or social objectives…”
Let’s Roll
Several Oracle employees lost their lives that day—among them, an account manager whose name would soon become synonymous with American courage: Todd Beamer.
Many of you have likely heard of Todd’s heroics.
Todd Morgan Beamer, 32, was aboard United Airlines Flight 93 when it was hijacked and crashed during the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Beamer was one of the passengers who attempted to regain control of the aircraft from the hijackers.
During the struggle, the Boeing 757 lost control.
It crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board but saving the hijackers’ intended target and additional victims.
“Let’s Roll: The Story of Flight 93” is a documentary of Todd’s flight that morning and a reminder to never forget 9/11/2001 and the innocent victims we lost that day.
I did not know Todd personally but had a loose connection with him through my GTE sales team.
Kim, on my team, had copied me on an email to Todd earlier in the year as he had responsibility for a GTE unit in Boston.
Ironically, Todd’s famous call from Flight 93 went to a GTE operator.
In another indirect connection, our daughter Hannah went to college in California.
She met a girl in her first year who lost her father on 9/11.
They became friends and remain so today.
That girl’s name is Anna Clare Burnett.
Her father, Tom, Todd, and two others were the passengers who fought back against the hijackers on Flight 93.
Reflecting Back
Beamer was survived by his wife, Lisa, their sons, David and Andrew, who were three and one at the time of Beamer’s death, and their daughter, Morgan, who was born after Beamer’s death.
Those kids are 28, 26, and 24 today.
Our children were 14, 12, 6, and 4 in 2001.
This is the third time I have written about my memories of 9/11.
The first two were mainly focused on what I was doing on that particular day.
Of course I would share how business changed immediately after and how I adapted.
But this year, today in fact, it occurred to me to recall what my life was like back then.
I think mentioning Todd and Lisa’s children may have awakened me.
I was in my early forties with a young family.
Not much older or different than our son’s life today.
I am thankful for the 25 years that I’ve had with my family that Todd (and the others who perished that day) were unable to enjoy.
The End of the Innocence
Did that act of terror work?
If we are being honest with ourselves, the answer is “yes”—for a brief, painful window.
All air travel went dark for three days.
It took nearly three years for passenger volume to recover.
People were terrified, angry, and shaken.
But our resolve held.
We completely rebuilt aviation from the ground up: hardened cockpit doors, armed flight deck officers, federalized screening under TSA, and sophisticated backend threat intelligence.
Perhaps most importantly, the psychology of the traveling public permanently changed from passive compliance to active defense.
Flying today is safer than it has ever been.
Still, that bright Tuesday morning was a definitive turning point where a safer, simpler era came to a close.
Thank you for reading,
Jeff
