On My Watch

" On My Watch" authored by Virginia Buckingham. Not at all like any of the other books written about 9/11. We all know where we were when we watched and or heard about this horrific tragedy! We all were forever changed! This book is heartfelt and soul searching account of and by Virginia Buckingham, head of Massachusetts 's Port Authority at Boston's Logan international Airport. It is raw, intensely personable. Factual. And, informative and from an entirely different view. I highly recommend it!

On My Watch by Virginia Buckingham is so much more than “just” another 9/11 memoir, and deserves every five-star review it gets. Stop now and pick up a copy.

On September 11, 2001, the author was the head of the Massachusetts Port Authority, and Boston’s Logan International Airport. Two of the four planes that were hijacked by Islamic extremists that morning left the airport on her watch, and, like countless others, her life was forever changed.

Within hours, America and the world was looking for someone to blame — many inexplicably chose the author.

On My Watch is a powerful and deeply personal memoir about fragility and blame, about self doubt and trauma. Yes, there are nuggets of insight into the tragedy of 9/11, but the focus is on a much more subtle tragedy — what happens when we are faced with the reality that control is a myth?

The author is a superb storyteller and writer. Nearly every scene moves the story forward, informs the overall message and deepens the reader’s understanding and self awareness. The voice is authentic as she grapples — emotionally, intellectually and physically — with the trauma she experienced on that one horrible day, but also on the days, weeks, months and years that followed. She is relentlessly honest in describing her PTSD, in exploring the shattering impact of the press, in being the scapegoat for a nation and individuals desperate to place blame somewhere, anywhere, so they can go back to their comfortable pre-9/11 existences. But the author’s finest and most relatable work is in digging through her own sense of responsibility and the crippling blame it creates.

Structurally, the narrative of Not on My Watch is supported by media sound bytes, which provide an almost visceral gut punch that leaves the reader somehow more vulnerable and more conscious of the power of words — regardless of their source.

This is a great book.

I shared bits of it with a friend who lost a child a few years ago, and her reaction was humbling. The blame, she said, never goes away, but she — like the author — is learning to let go, learning to embrace the fragility, and moving forward forever changed.

Again, On My Watch by Virginia Buckingham is so much more than “just” another 9/11 memoir , and deserves every five-star review it gets. Stop now and pick up a copy.

The review is based on an advance copy read.