Reflections Post 9/11

This last week as I sat on planes in various airports on my way to and from some international meetings, I thought about what we’ve seen in the last eight years post 9/11. It occurred to me that while many things have changed since we watched in horror as the Twin Towers were hit that terrible day, we also witnessed firsthand some of the things that make us stand apart. We saw how Americans band together in difficult times as we saw strangers helping strangers. People reached out to each other in shared pain and with a shared purpose.

I saw the devastation myself less than a month after the attacks, and even from the plane could see the smoking, smoldering ruins, making everything we saw on TV and in the newspapers and the Internet all that much more real. On that day and the days that followed, in spite of our grief we showed the world what America is all about, and we also showed the world why we are proud to be American.

On that day too – we saw how small the world really is, and saw firsthand our need to better understand each other as people. Countries across the globe reached out to us, sharing our pain, our outrage at the events that transpired, and giving us hope of better days to come. In an age of instant communication, we saw cities, countries; communities across the globe almost instantaneously join together with gatherings, candles, memorials, songs and prayers to those affected by the events of 9/11, and to the American people.

These are some of the very reasons that I am so passionate about what we do at People to People Ambassador Programs as well as our other business units on a daily basis. In our line of work, our passion lies in helping to bridge some of those gaps, and helping people see the world with a more global perspective. Here in our Spokane headquarters, we hear every day about the students whose own worlds got a little bigger through our programs, the friendships gained, or the lives that are changed even in the smallest of ways. And I strongly believe that with a better understanding of each other, comes a better understanding of ourselves.

I consider myself very lucky on so many levels, and one of the things that I am most thankful for is that I have the opportunity to witness some of the outstanding young people coming of age right now. I see barriers broken down between people, countries and nations. It is the small things that add up to make a difference, and I get to see these students begin to make that connection for themselves.

Our programs intentionally include at least one community service component in its itinerary. We do that because community service is key to knowing and understanding community, whether it is domestic or international. This last travel year we contributed a total of 140,000 community service hours across the globe, and our goal is to surpass that mark next year. Giving back helps us all – it helps America to continue to show the world what we are made of, it helps us all become better people, and it helps us to keep the memory and the promise of 9/11 with us each and every day.


Today, Mary Eisenhower of People to People International and I were very honored to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres at his private residence in Jerusalem. This meeting was held after President Peres’ action-packed meeting over the weekend with US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell to discuss resuming important peace negotiations with Palestine, and after he was briefly hospitalized after fainting. We were happy to see that he appears to be healthy and well.

During our meeting, President Peres presented Mary Eisenhower with a gift - a copy of a passage from David Ben-Gurion’s diary about his meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower at the end of World War II. The moving passage from the diary talks about President Eisenhower’s recognition of Ben-Gurion as the driving force behind a state for Israel.

Mary Eisenhower presented President Peres a signed copy of her father’s book, and it turned out that President Peres had previously met John Eisenhower, known as a well respected military historian and author. Both were deeply touched by the thoughtful gifts.

We continued to discuss Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister and founding father of Israel. President Dwight Eisenhower admired him greatly, as did President Peres, who worked for him having been involved in key political and government positions in Israel for over 60 years. We spoke of the vast impact of the holocaust camps as a driving force behind the creation of Israel and also the personal impact of the camps on President Eisenhower resulting in the beginning of the People to People programs. After Ben-Gurion’s death, he was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.”

We plan on sharing our thoughts with you on this blog with the hope of providing a window into what we do, the lives we impact, and the change that we can instill in all of us as we work together. This past week for me has indeed been an amazing week full of historical events, remembrances and possibilities.

Wishing you happy travels,

Jeff Thomas
CEO, People to People Ambassador Programs