No one will ever forget where they were seven years ago when they heard about the 9/11 attacks. Unfortunately, most people will only remember once a year and, unless they are from New York or New Jersey, they probably never actually “got it” in the first place.
For most, 9/11 was just something that happened to those people over in New York; Oh, ya…Washington was hit and a plane crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania, too. Still others preach that we actually deserved it! Can you imagine the colossal ignorance behind such a mindset? This was the most horrific attack against America in our history, the first ever on mainland America, and except for a few hours each year its significance has mostly been buried in bickering, politics and controversy, along with the remains of nearly three thousand innocents who died that day.
In truth they didn’t just die, they were mercilessly slaughtered through an evil act of cowardice. It was cowardice because dying is so easy; it happens to all of us sooner or later. It’s living that takes true courage. I would like to see an official national day of respect designated to honor, not just the dead, but the survivors who continue to celebrate life in spite of their grave losses. If past presidents, common workers and civil rights leaders can qualify, surely we can spare one more day for thousands of dedicated souls who routinely went to work that morning and the families who expected them to come home that night.
For now, 9/11 will be marked with a moment of silence and the reading of a roster of victims. Then, except for those families left with a gap even greater than the gap in the New York skyline, life will go on pretty much as usual.
Somehow, whenever I round the viaduct that leads from New Jersey toward the Lincoln Tunnel, I still expect to see those two buildings towering majestically over The City. I will always feel a gut-wrenching emptiness when all that suddenly greets me is a huge hole in the sky. Then my emptiness turns to rage as I remember the thugs who committed this senseless act of barbarism. Maybe if more Americans “got it”…if more Americans could feel that same mix of loss tinged with anger, we would be more resolved as a people to winning The Global War On Terror and, indeed, never forget.
F.M.
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