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Friday, October 12, 2001

Residents rekindle love for family, American way

By LYNN BULMAHN | News-Journal Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH — No American is likely to forget September 11.

Ordinary people throughout Volusia and Flagler counties, as across the nation, are affected in big ways and small by the events stemming from the terrorists' attacks. Flags are flying. People are somber. Life has changed.

Terror's impact has stunned even those who didn't lose loved ones. A young boy is just learning for what America stands. A pastor leads his flock in times of new uncertainty. A senior citizen observes world events through the wise eyes of experience. A travel agent adapts to the changes at work.

A country braces for what is to come. Peace-loving Americans gear up for war.

And we carry on.

Connor Macht, 6, a first-grader at Pine Trails Elementary, wasn't even born when the Gulf War was fought. "This was the first worldwide tragedy that he really has been able to grasp," his father said.

Connor's parents, Brian and April Macht, of Ormond Lakes, are helping their only child understand the crisis. In the innocence of the little boy's experience, the terrorist attacks are frightening. They rank up there with the fire that was on his street one time, killing a spider; and finding a snake at his house.

"I'm sad," Connor said. But, he said his parents "told me everything will be okay."

April Macht said she cannot tear herself away from the television. She grew up in New Jersey's mountains; the World Trade Centers' twin towers were a common sight on the horizon. But she's limiting the TV news Connor watches. "We sat down, explained it to him and said it wouldn't affect his daily life," she said. "We were honest with him. I think he reacted fine -- it just rolled off his back."

And the family has begun special rituals. Since Sept. 11, Connor prays each night for America and the troops going overseas.

As a family project, "we put up a flag on our house," Connor said, excitedly. "Our neighbors said it was the biggest one in the neighborhood!

"Me and Daddy put the flag up together," he said." My daddy teached me not to put the flag down, or let it touch the ground. That would be showing disrespect."

At Connor's School, the children wear red, white and blue on Fridays, his mother said. "I think the school pretty much tries to shelter him," April Macht said. "But he's learned about patriotism."

Connor said he's ready to go to war right now. He sighs with childlike impatience. He knows he'll have to wait. "I asked my mommy if I can be in the war when I'm 18," Connor said. "I want to help my country."

His father said Connor expresses pride about living in a free country, one that "doesn't put up with bad men."

"We were very pleased to see his interest in our country," Brian Macht said. "He told us that he loves the Flag of America' as he calls it, which I think comes from a song he learned at school."

The Machts are not the only ones who turned to prayer in the wake of the tragedy. Three weeks ago, the Rev. Paul Rauscher, pastor of the Lutheran Church of Providence in Deltona, saw the news. He quickly pulled together two special prayer services for Sept. 12.

"We had quite a few people for those services," he said. Afterwards, "we had people who stayed and prayed. I prayed with them."

Most had sons or daughters in the military.

Rausch understands their feelings. "I've got a 20 year old, and if they decide to (activate) the draft, I'm sure he'd be up," the pastor said.

As time goes on, members are handling things well. But Rausch continues to talk with a man troubled about a slumping business.

The pastor calls the attacks an "extreme manifestation of evil."

"If God isn't saddened by something like this, he's not the God he says he is," Rauscher said. "But God might not be pleased with us as a society right now."

Rauscher finds it ironic that some officials seem to be "trying to teach our populace that God is not important, then they ... pray on the Capitol steps."

News of the attack stunned many people. Just deciding what to do in the next minute or hour was difficult. Dick Gray, a resident of John Knox Village retirement community in Orange City, was volunteering at a Habitat for Humanity worksite in Alliance, Ohio.

He'd walked across the street and heard a radio news broadcast. "I got my radio out of our motor home, took it to the build site -- and told the others what had happened," Gray said.

"We asked ourselves should we quit working? Or should we continue?' "

"Finally, we voted to continue," Gray said. Later, the American Legion brought by some flags.

A former prisoner of war in Nazi Germany, Gray vows that he will not change his lifestyle or his mindset about other people in the wake of the attacks. "Although we are enemies, we are still human beings, and so are they," he said.

Gray's daughter lives in Cairo, Egypt. "We were anxious about her situation there," he said. "She has said they are being treated very kind."

Having fought a war and lived abroad, Gray said he's not as startled by violence as many Americans. "This country has never had a war on its soil since the Civil War," he said.

He prays for people around the world, "especially our family." He said he realizes most of his eight grandchildren may have to fight a war.

Returning from their 13-week trip last week, Gray and his wife are getting back to their normal routines. He rehearses with the men's chorus. They plan a Halloween party.

"Life goes on -- although it hasn't gone on as usual," he said.

Lois Geanopulos was en route to her job at Kelly's World of Travel at the Flagler Regional Plaza in Palm Coast when the planes crashed. She didn't see the video of it until she returned home.

She said it was devastating.

"That first week was awful," Geanopulos said. "And not having any sun, besides the news, made everyone depressed."

In the immediate aftermath, Geanopulos said, travel agents were busy helping people after all flights were grounded.

"Many, many people came in who had bought tickets online," she said. "When you're staring at a computer screen wondering what to do next, it's better to deal with a person."

Since the attack, "each day's a little better than the previous one," she said. Since the federal government launched extra security measures, the public is feeling better about flying. "People have only so much time, so they need to fly," Geanopulos said.

And the sun is shining again.

Still, Geanopulos struggles with the question, "how can anybody do that to anybody?"

"It's like when you see so many movies these days that have violence in them, but you know it's not real. These scenes were real!"

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