'Dust in the Wind' an enduring image of the 9/11 horror

The song “Dust in the Wind,” released in 1977 by the progressive rock band Kansas, is considered among the most famous acoustic rock songs ever recorded.
 

The song was written by Kansas band member Kerry Livgren who said he was only expressing his own personal search for something before becoming an evangelical Christian a few years later. The song’s message resembles a well-known Bible verse from Genesis 3:19: “… for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Besides being a meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death, the song literally reminds me of the horrible events of 9/11 in 2001. Some of the most macabre and enduring images taken after the collapse of the twin towers showed bloodied survivors covered in dust trying to reach safety outside of ground zero.

Tens of thousands of tons of concrete that composed the floor slabs of each of the 110 floors were pulverized when the towers came down, producing vast clouds of fine dust that blocked the sun and plunged Manhattan into pitch-blackness.

The dust settled to a depth of 3 inches in locations as far as six blocks from the World Trade Center, permeating the insides of buildings, and contaminating air conditioning systems. Many survivors of 9/11 later suffered and died from symptoms of respiratory illnesses.

The Kansas song and 9/11 also show us how fragile life can be. Whether you believe in fate, luck or divine intervention, there were numerous random events and missed appointments that morning which meant the difference between life and death.

More than 350 people who were originally scheduled to be on the four airliners hijacked in the 9/11 attacks either changed their plans and canceled their reservations or simply failed to show up for the flights.

Among the notable individuals who had reservations changed for American Airlines Flight 11 — the first plane to be hijacked — were Seth Macfarlane, the creator of the cartoon “Family Guy”; actor Mark Wahlberg; Bobby Farrelly, the writer and director of comedy movies such as “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary”; and Julia Child, the renowned chef and television personality. Actor Robert Redford also narrowly avoided being on United Airlines Flight 93, the fourth plane to be hijacked.

Consider these unlikely circumstances:

• A cigarette break saved the life of Greer Epstein, who worked for Morgan Stanley on the 67th floor of the World Trade Center. While riding down the elevator for her break, she felt a jolt, but ignored it. Stepping out of the elevator she found people, some in a panic and others outside staring at the fire and smoke billowing from a hole in the north tower. They watched in horror as the second plane struck the south tower, causing a fireball that blew through the office Epstein had just vacated.

• United Airlines flight attendant Elise O’Kane had wanted to work her usual trip from Boston to Los Angeles that month. The night before, she logged into the computer system and tried to request Flight 175 on 9/11. The system froze and by the time it finally processed her request, it was one minute past the airline’s deadline for such changes. Her request for Flight 175 was denied.

• George Keith, an investment banker who had a meeting at 9 a.m. on the 79th floor of the World Trade Center, was delayed driving to work when the transmission of his brand-new BMW sport utility vehicle got stuck in first gear. The breakdown forced him to cancel his morning meeting.

• Joe Andrew, a Washington lawyer, had a ticket for seat 6-C on the American Airlines flight 77 from Dulles to Los Angeles but switched to a later flight at the last minute.

“I happen to be a person of faith,” he later explained, “but even if you aren’t, anybody who holds a ticket for a flight that went down will become a person of faith.”

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com