Virtual 9/11: Managing terror in an electronic era

This chapter discusses the Danielle Gardner experiences on the ground after September 11. She talks about the private grief that exists behind a public tragedy. September 11 family members were robbed of being able to pour themselves and their grief into something constructive. The frustrated and confused query Gardner heard over and over again from family members, and she was surprised to learn laterfrom many civic frontline responders, was, Where’s the guidebook? Who can tell us what to do? We were struck over and over that we were on our own. She has learned that there is a comfort that can only be found in the company of fellow travelers. Gardner have learned that their special circumstances the trauma, the ever-present aggressive media, the public attention, the massive loss of life, the destruction of whole communities of people around them, the post-9/11 world that emerged in the aftermathall have seriously complicated their mourning.