As an American in France, ANGELA DOLAND was used to political attacks against the U.S. But on Sept. 11, politics no longer mattered.
Outside the U.S. Embassy in Paris, a man observes three minutes of silence on Sept. 14, 2001, to honor victims of the terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/Michel Lipchitz)
A few hours after the attacks, I received an e-mail from someone I didn't know well: a French scientist with radical leftist politics, a critic of all things American. "I hope your family is safe," he wrote. "What happened to your country today is devastating. I am so sorry."
That was the start of a stream of sympathetic messages from people I had met in France, some of whom I hardly knew. But they knew I was American, and they wanted to reach out.
On Sept. 11, 2001, I had been living here for about two years. I imagine it's the same for everyone: All the banal details of the moment I heard the news are burned into my memory. I had the afternoon off, and my cell phone rang when I was in a shop dressing room, trying on a pair of jeans.
I remember rushing to the office then, running along the busy Avenue des Champs-Elysee. Just by looking at people's faces, I could tell who knew and who hadn't heard. At a pizzeria, a waiter had moved the television so the crowd outside the window could watch replays of the second plane hitting the tower, over and over.
Sometimes, being American in Paris can be irritating -- like when people corner you at parties and expect you to answer for U.S. policy, as though you're some kind of official ambassador. During the Iraq invasion, the questions were exhausting.
In the days after the attacks, though, there was nothing but good will. Across Europe, people observed three minutes of silence in honor of the victims. The newspaper Le Monde ran its now-famous editorial: "We are all Americans."
Le Monde was right: Europe, too, has been shaken by post-9/11 terrorism, in London and Madrid. We're all in this together.
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MORE ON SEPT. 11
For more stories related to the fifth anniversary of the attacks, look at asap's special report Living with 9/11.
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asap contributor Angela Doland is an AP writer based in Paris.
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