A former Secret Service agent who survived the Sept. 11 terror attacks is warning that he believes some Americans might not be gleaning important lessons from the deadly assault.
Darin Kinder said he “had a front row seat to evil” that fateful day, but that he also “saw the best of America” amid the terror.
“I was outside when the second impact happened 80-90 yards from the base of that tower,” he said. “And then scurried up into World Trade Tower OneIwith some other coworkers, helping people evacuate.”
Then, he was at the base of Tower Two when it buckled and collapsed. It was in that moment that Kinder faced a harrowing situation, as he was in a battle for his life.
“That began my mad dash for life,” he said. “That’s when I thought it was gone for sure. I thought it was game over.”
Kinder tried to outrun the tower’s collapse, struggling to breathe through the thick smoke. He was able to survive and flee the chaos and has spent the past 25 years sharing his story. His memoir, “Bury Me in a Dirty Suit: Discovering Man’s Valiant Purpose in the Aftermath Of 9/11,” has been one of the tools he has used to offer up his journey toward hope and healing.
Among the other topics he covered is courage, something he described as “a choice.” And as Kinder reflects on the hope he experienced amid so much pain, he also has a warning for Americans 25 years after radical Islam inflicted such pain on the nation: that some might have forgotten what unfolded.
“I think a September 10th mindset is kind of encroaching in, and where we just want to keep our head buried in the sand and not address the real evil that’s there, the real presence of a threat that’s there,” Kinder said. “And we can’t have that.”
He said he’s been bothered and concerned by some of what he’s seen among young people who are asking questions to which they should know the answers. Tragically, he said many of these people simply haven’t been educated on these matters, with the facts of what unfolded at the hands of “19 radical Islamic terrorists” being shielded or ignored.
Kinder also said other historic elements surrounding the event that “killed nearly 3,000 Americans and that kicked off a generational war — the global War on Terror — that we have seen the negative ripple and ramifications of” have also been largely ignored. He encouraged people to adhere to the truth, and warned that some Christians are too focused on the wrong elements.
“It’s this devout devotion to the 11th Commandment — ‘Thou shall be nice,'” Kinder said. “And it’s just not there. I mean, we’re we’re commanded to speak the truth in love and truth without love is harsh. Love without truth is just trying to be a nice guy that gets along to go-a-long. We have to be able to to to relay the truth to the next generation.”
Kinder said it’s often a temptation for Christians to want to be comfortable, yet Scripture shows Jesus and his followers weren’t always in that position. In fact, they were “hunted…chased out of town” and even beaten and stoned.
“We want to embrace comfort and not have real conversations,” he said, noting that the history of Islam was one of imposition at its roots, juxtaposing it against Christianity, which he called a “religion of invitation.” Understanding these realities, he said, is key.
“I would just say bluntly that evil doesn’t stop when you ask nicely,” he said. “And when it reaches its radical form and it’s literally attacking you physically or it’s undercutting everything in your culture and everything in your society and slowly changing over time that needs to be pushed back.”
Kinder continued, “That is darkness, and we’re called to bring light into dark.”
He encouraged Christians to “get engaged” and to stop burying their heads in the sand. Read more of his story in “Bury Me in a Dirty Suit: Discovering Man’s Valiant Purpose in the Aftermath Of 9/11.”
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