Thoughts on the September 11 Sixth Anniversary
Posted on September 11, 2007 in Events, Personal thoughts by DM
Blue Sky.
That’s what I remember, more than anything else, about September 11, 2001. It was one of those blue sky days (at least, it was in New York - isn’t it funny that I don’t remember whether it was overcast here?). The kind like today: bright, clear blue sky, where trees and buildings just seem so much more vivid than they do against an overcast backdrop.
New Yorks’ bright blue sky made the towers gleam… it also establshed stark contrast for the black smoke. Standing in my living room, watching the second plane hit, I remember thinking: look at the blue sky. Then, a day or so later, I remember leaving my downtown office to take a walk, noting our own blue sky, and looking up at our own tall buildings. I imagined planes flying into them. What would I do if this happened in my city, I wondered?
I have always had a special fondness for blue-sky days. In their truest form, they are actually few in number - most days seem to have some degree of cloud cover. At least that’s the way it seems to me - they are, at any rate, few enough that when they occur, I always notice. These days, of course, it’s hard to take note of a blue-sky day without remembering the events of September 11th and the aftermath.
I think what’s hardest these days is accepting that there is a larger picture than just the images we saw on television. September 11th isn’t just about loss, or victims, or heroes… though I firmly believe those stories should be told often.
It’s also about vulnerability. And how for one day, and the few weeks after it, we stood together because we recognized our vulnerability. And this to me is such a huge issue, even now, six years later. On the one hand I think we have a large segment of our population that no longer feels vulnerable, and so no longer sees the need for our military response. (Or, apparently, any other type of response.) On the other hand the people leading our response have focused so much energy on the military side of things and so little on fixing the problems that make us vulnerable.
So here I am, an average American, right in the middle: disgusted with those who want to give up the fight, but recognizing that in six years’ time we have done so little to actually protect ourselves.
September 11 should be a day of national mourning. It should also be a day of heart-felt remembrance, and story-sharing, and celebrating our heroes. It should not be a day to lament how far we haven’t come.
I think that’s why I’m sad today. Not because people died, but because we are still stomping around, refusing to learn the lesson that they died to teach us.
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Perfectly said!
Oh, I had a huge rant going, but I don’t want to make things partisan over here, nor on my own blog. LOL I’m just tired of politics. That’s it. What do you think of after we think of what happened that day and remember the people we lost? You usally think or our armed forces. I just want to support our men and women who are in harm’s way and that’s all right now. And I want them to know that they have our faith and trust here at home. I’m gonna end it there because the more I type the more partisan it sounds, and I just said I was tired of politics. LOL
God Bless Our Troops and God Bless the USA.
I am writing this message on December 7, 2007, the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This attack got the United States into the second World War and changed the country forever. Yet the attack seems to have been forgotten, save in the eyes of the chick-flick and myth makers who wear rose-colored glasses. (I’m thinking about that Pearl Harbor movie that came out a few months before the events on September 11, 2001.)
I am proud of the “Greatest Generation” and what it did during that conflict. But there were blemishes–the internment camps come to mind–that should not be overlooked by Americans. The picture of the United States is not a perfect one. Nonetheless, Americans and their allies deserve credit for their service during one of the most trying times of the 20th century.