Each one of us can think back to those times when we encountered history. At that instant we were a part of the story, not just watching or listening to someone else report it. In our own unique ways we were there.

“A plane just slammed into the World Trade Center!”

When Melissa Mann, Union’s art director, came into my office with that announcement, a moment in our history became a part of my life. A few minutes later I listened with many of you to our campus minister Todd Brady as he began to sort out what was happening. He spoke from his heart. In a spontaneous, quiet, yet powerful way, he reminded us of God’s presence in our lives.

Only minutes after leaving the chapel I was called by Baptist Press about a possible coverage of those first days surrounding the tragedy. Long before daylight the next morning I was in a van headed for New York City.

I made the trip with two Nashvillians, Morris Abernathy from LifeWay, and Todd Starnes of Baptist Press. Todd worked as the writer as Morris and I provided the visuals. The days were long, but working with friends provided a very needed balance. Even in the midst of all the horror, we still found an occasional reason to laugh.

This is being written on Tuesday, September 18, exactly a week after the event. Since departing the university for New York right up until now, I have not seen even one minute of television. My life has been on deadline for a week. I’ve listened to the radio and looked through a few newspapers, but most of my visual memories have come from what I’ve seen. It must have been horrific to actually see the building collapse as many of you did, and even worse to witness several fatal decisions to leap from the World Trade Center.

You saw these things actually happen.

Standing at entrance of the temporary morgue, located only yards from the mountain of twisted concrete and steel, I too experienced things that will be hard to forget.  I saw expressionless faces, tear-filled eyes and long hugs of encouragement. I witnessed unwavering determination, incredible courage and constant displays of compassion. I saw men and women, young and old, a rainbow of nationalities and backgrounds all working together.  

One evening I was standing in a very long line of writers, photographers, and every other media type you can imagine. We were all waiting for the latest credential required to work near the site of the World Trade Center. In front of me were about a dozen members of the press from Japan. Beside me were those from Belgium and Norway. Right behind me were the French. There were hundreds of media representatives all waiting together. As we began to talk I realized that they were not there to cover just another international story. They all had countrymen in those buildings. The story was personal to them too.

For most who work in the news, stories come and go as quickly as the next deadline. Once in a while one comes along that may extend for a few days. And then there are stories like this. These are the ones that rock our world and change all of our lives. They bring us together and present us with a picture ourselves.

In a conversation with a student from Stuyvesant High School, which is located only a block and half from ground zero, Freeman Fields, mentioned a verse of scripture. He said it had helped him as he attempted to comfort thirteen members of his football team who gathered at his tiny apartment just minutes after the attack. The verses are found in Psalm 46:1-3. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

Later tonight I will probably turn on the television and see some of the things you saw a week ago. I’m sure it will send me back to where I’ve been. I will see again things that had been in front of my camera, and see more clearly a picture of the person behind it.

Jim Veneman

Initial Article - Posted Sept. 14, 2001

Union University photojournalist, Jim Veneman, director of visual communication in the Office of University Relations, left Wednesday for New York on-assignment with two others for Baptist Press, the news agency for the Southern Baptist Convention.

Veneman, together with Morris Abernathy, a photojournalist for LifeWay Christian Resources, and Todd Starnes, a journalist for Baptist Press, left early Wednesday morning, traveling throughout the day and night in a rented van, finally reaching New York in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

In a call home late Thursday afternoon, Veneman spoke of the smokiness and the "indefinable smell" in the area known as Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Center towers collapsed after being attacked by two hijacked planes Tuesday morning.

"Down in the actual ground zero area, it's very intense," said Veneman, who observed the taut faces of policemen and military personnel monitoring the area. "It's very obvious that many of them are on edge, but who can blame them with the long hours they're putting in," he acknowledged.

He told of talking with a fireman who was part of what Venemen called "a miracle company." The fireman and his crew were working in Tower 1 when Tower 2 collapsed and managed to get out before Tower I succumbed to the intense structure damage it had received from the attack and the resulting fire.

"They are the only fire company in this entire area that did not sustain death," reported Venemen.

Thursday morning, Venemen and his group were able to visit a local church that was doing quite a bit of ministering to people in the area. The pastor's son, Veneman said, a senior in high school this year, attends a school that was very close to the area of the towers.

"He told us of 14 of his closest friends converging on his family's small apartment because there was nowhere else to go," recounted Venemen. "These young people witnessed some of the worst of it. They saw people jumping out of the buildings… horrible stuff."

While in New York, Veneman and his counterparts hope to cover Southern Baptist participation in the recovery and assistance of the victims and their families and the rest of the city. He will be sending back images and reports as much as possible which will be posted here.