Childhood’s End: Coming of Age on 9/11 as a CIA Intern

The 25th anniversary of 9/11 is upon us. It is a memory I have sought to put as far in the past as possible, for all the obvious reasons, as well as some less immediately apparent. As to the obvious ones: Simply put, there is the world “before 9/11” — from the Reagan Eighties to the Clinton “peace dividend” in the ’90s, a great time to be born and raised — and the world “after 9/11,” with all that implies. That day, 2,977 people died, and our world changed irrevocably. Nearly every other writer here at NR old enough to have remembered the day has contributed something weighty or thoughtful to its memory this week.

Of what use, then, is a private reflection from a preternaturally aged cynic like me? I was a 20-year-old fool on September 11, 2001 — mere days away from my 21st birthday, as it happens, and not even an adult yet. Of course that nightmarish day (and its aftermath) had an immense effect on the man I became; it’s arguably the single most important historical event of my lifetime.

About the Author

Jeffrey Blehar

Jeffrey Blehar is a National Review staff writer living in Chicago. He is also the co-host of National Review’s Political Beats podcast, which explores the great music of the modern era with guests from the political world happy to find something non-political to talk about.

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The 25th anniversary of 9/11 is upon us. It is a memory I have sought to put as far in the past as possible, for all the obvious reasons, as well as some less immediately apparent. As to the obvious ones: Simply put, there is the world “before 9/11” — from the Reagan Eighties to the Clinton “peace dividend” in the ’90s, a great time to be born and raised — and the world “after 9/11,” with all that implies. That day, 2,977 people died, and our world changed irrevocably. Nearly every other writer here at NR old enough to have remembered the day has contributed something weighty or thoughtful to its memory this week.

Of what use, then, is a private reflection from a preternaturally aged cynic like me? I was a 20-year-old fool on September 11, 2001 — mere days away from my 21st birthday, as it happens, and not even an adult yet. Of course that nightmarish day (and its aftermath) had an immense effect on the man I became; it’s arguably the single most important historical event of my lifetime.

About the Author

Jeffrey Blehar

Jeffrey Blehar is a National Review staff writer living in Chicago. He is also the co-host of National Review’s Political Beats podcast, which explores the great music of the modern era with guests from the political world happy to find something non-political to talk about.