The 9/11 Century

Twenty years on, how should we think about the worst terrorist attack in American history?

- By George Packer

September 11 is buried so deep under layers of subsequent history and interpretation that it’s hard to sort out the true feelings of that day. But I remember one image with indelible clarity. It’s the face of a young woman in a color photograph on a flyer that appeared at the entrance to my subway stop in Brooklyn, around my neighborhood, and then all over the city. we need your help, the flyer said.

Giovanna

‘Gennie’ Gambale

27 years old 5’6”

Brown hair, brown eyes

Last seen on 102nd fl of

World Trade Center …

Call with any information.

The sign was posted right after the attacks and stayed up long after it stopped being an urgent request to locate a missing person who might be wandering through the ashes of Lower Manhattan, and became a tribute to a lost daughter. The early hours and days were like that. The facts were incomprehensible. How many people died, how many survived, did any survive? When would the next attack come? Who had done it, and why?