For several months ahead of September this year people had been posting photos on their Facebook page of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001. Both towers were in flames and surrounded by smoke. The comment that accompanied those posts was, “Re-post this so we NEVER FORGET. Some have forgotten …”
I beg to differ with those posts. I believe that every human alive and old enough to be “aware” remembers the attack on our country on September 11, 2001.
It was one of those heart-stopping moments that we not only remember where we were at the precise moment we learned a plane had flown into the North Tower, but who we were with, what conversation we were having and even what we were wearing as the attack continued. The weeks and even months following the event were filled with images almost constantly of the following hours in New York as both towers were attacked and fell to the ground, the attack on the Pentagon and the bravery and determination … and love for this country … shown by the passengers of Flight 93.
We were witness to the bravery and tenacity of the first responders, the rescue efforts for survivors and then the rescue turned recovery. We watched as teams from all over the globe came to help in that effort and I, for one, and I suspect I am one of many, cried many tears throughout and especially as we watched rescue dogs covering the sites searching for signs of life … and later remains.
Last week we continued to remember 9/11 on the 20th. Anniversary of that awful day. Almost all TV networks, news and media channels did a superlative job offering documentaries from a number of perspectives including interviews with survivors, children whose heroic fathers and mothers were victims of that awful attack, children who were born after their fathers were lost on that day, the second grade children, grown now, who shared a classroom visit with President Bush when he was notified of the attack on the World Trade Center, and a documentary following a unit of the New York City Fire Department. The fire department documentary was perhaps the best of them all.
A two-brother team of videographers had begun filming a documentary following a rookie fireman as he began his career with the Fire Department. The project started a few days prior to 9/11/01 and followed the rookie through his menial chores keeping the precinct clean, the fire engines clean and spotless, his sleepless nights anticipating his first fire and his unexpected participation in the events of 9/11.
The brother videographers said they never intended to produce a documentary about 9/11 but that’s what they unexpectedly came away with while following a rookie.
The pervasive theme from the fire department angle was the dedication of the first responder firemen, their determination to rescue as many people from the twin towers as possible, their bravery and their love for each other. The rookie , as the events of the day robbed him of his innocence, became a man. The documentary points out the days that followed as he became a first responder and a survivor. The story and the videography of the unexpected events of the day made it, by far, the best of all the exceptional documentaries that were aired the week of the anniversary of that awful day. Presented on CNN, the documentary is titled simply 9/11.
Among the many heart-wrenching moments pointed out in all of the documentaries last week was the way we all came together out of love for this country and love for each other. We were joined in our solidarity by countries from around the world. I cried as I watched and listened to people from so many places, so many walks of life and circumstance singing together God Bless America. If anything positive can be said about that awful event it was that we were united as a people and as a country. It was quite amazing, quite humbling and unexpectedly beautiful.
From my perspective in 2021, laced with cynicism brought on by the events of the last few years and currently as our planet battles possibly the most deadly surge of the COVID pandemic, my thoughts hit briefly on the What Ifs … most specifically, what if that awful attack had happened today in 2021?
On 9/11/ 2021 President Biden and his wife personally made a trip to the Pentagon, the field where Flight 93 crashed and the Freedom Tower in New York City. As is true of the division in this country in 2021, he has been ridiculed for not making a speech that day. For me, I believe he projected just what we needed as a country during these hectic and divisive times. He showed his respect for all the lives lost, for all the families affected and for our country. The anniversary of 9/11 wasn’t about HIM … it was about heroes and families and a country filled with physical and emotional survivors. Mr. Biden handled it just right.
Had 9/11 happened in 2021 I wonder if politicians would have attempted to convince us that the day was just a larger than usual tourist event and the perpetrators of the attack on our country were really Jewish Space Lasers. My heart weeps at the fact that I even had those thoughts.
My husband and I are about to become first-time grandparents in November. There is so much joy and excitement surrounding bringing this baby into the world. My hope for him is that by the time he is able to become “aware,” circumstances in this country and in the world will have become more accepting, more caring, less divisive, less polarized, more driven by truth and honesty, and more tolerant of the differences between us. If they haven’t, I’m glad that my husband and I and his parents will be able to tell our little penguin about the day in 2001 … on 9/11… when we came together as one people in the shadow of tragedy, sharing an unequaled love for our country and for each other and sang God Bless America in unison.
heimdalco 