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Do
You Remember...
EDITORIAL
Frank Salvato
September 11th, 2003 |
This
column, as well as all other columns written on September 11th for the rest
of my life, is dedicated to all those who lost their lives on September
11th, 2001 and to their families. May we never forget exactly how we felt,
where we were and how much we all meant to each other on that horrible day.
Maybe
it is the old firefighter/paramedic coming out in me but every time I see a
picture of the World Trade Center I get very anxious. I remember standing in
front of the television, my eyes glued to the set, and as the second plane
hit understanding that what had happened just a bit earlier wasn’t an
accident. I felt hollow. I felt angry. I felt anxious. I felt vulnerable.
And as the first tower came crashing down to the ground I remember looking
at a coworker and saying, "I wonder how many firefighters just died?” Then
the magnitude of what had happened hit me and I started to wonder how many
more had been trapped inside as these once magnificent monuments to the free
world lay in ruins courtesy of the hate filled, the blind and the resentful.
I
remember these feelings as if the tragedy were yesterday and I care to guess
that is how our parents felt after Pearl Harbor with one notable exception,
their patriotism didn’t wane during the first years of their war, World War
II. As I sift through news reports today of the bickering over semantics (16
words) and political hair-splitting ("I voted to use intimidation, not
force) I find it hard to believe there are some among us who have forgotten
the earth shattering moment when we all realized terrorism had made it to
the shores of the New World and had done it in a very deadly way.
In the moments, days and weeks that followed we saw a renewed spirit here in
the United States, we saw a newborn pride in our country. We stood together
as Americans and defied anyone who dared try to belittle us for what we
believed, for what we stood for, for what our country stands for. People
from countries from around the world seemed to bleed along with us, American
in their condolence. And just as in the streets of New York, the surrounding
property of the Pentagon and a cornfield in Pennsylvania, on that fateful
day we all came together to aid one another, to comfort one another, to
reassure the young among us and to dedicate ourselves to do what was right
for those who would not be able to see the end result.
On
that day we watched our president, strong of will and focused on the task at
hand, dedicate the will of our nation to a War on Terror. Looking around at
the time there wasn’t one set of eyes I looked into that wasn’t standing
with President Bush in his resolve to bring to justice those
who would bring death and destruction to the shores of the United States. We
stood in solidarity as a nation, as Americans. What a difference two years
makes in these times.
Today we see politicians trying to politicize the events that should remain
hallowed for the rest of time for their own political gain. While some try
to define the War on Terror as actions exclusive to Afghanistan others
waffle on the votes they cast authorizing the use of force on another front
in the War on Terror, Iraq. While some politicians embrace the anti-war
rhetoric and rail against the president for the magnificent job he has done
thus far in a situation that few world leaders have had to face still others
try to convince us that what happened to us on that fateful day was somehow
brought on by ourselves.
Then
there are those who have put themselves above the true heroes who
courageously gave their lives trying to help others during those
fraught-filled hours on September 11th, 2001. We see an organization of
Atheists threatening a lawsuit to bar a section of the World Trade Center’s
structure, which bares the resemblance of a cross, from being used in any
permanent memorial at ground zero. It matters not that for the families of
many of the victims, and for the families of many of those who went in to
help but never had the chance to come out, this site is the final resting
place for the ones they loved, the ones who never had the chance to come
home. It matters not that the pieces of steel that now resemble a cross
actually originated from that very site, surviving in its marred profile as
something people rallied around. It matters not that through the grueling
search for survivors, through the days, weeks and months of agonizing
recovery efforts it stood as a symbol of hope that perhaps, maybe, we would
find just one more person alive. For the Atheists it is a religious symbol
but for the rest of us it is a symbol of reverence, a symbol that the very
few would deny the very many, all in the name of political correctness.
I
remember finally being able to talk to my friend Pete who lives in New York
and the relief I felt when I heard his voice (they hadn’t gotten him...those
bastards hadn’t killed him). I remember finding out that friends I had made
on the New York City Fire Department years earlier had been killed that day
doing what they did for a living, being heroes. I remember breaking down and
weeping for the fact that I would never again be able to embrace them as a
"brother of the badge” (once a firefighter always a firefighter – their
words not mine). And I remember crying and being devastated for all of those
who died, their families and their friends who would never again be able to
embrace each other because of evil. When I let myself, I can feel exactly
the same way about each of these things yet today. I find it amazing that
some cannot.
We,
the survivors and witnesses of September 11th, 2001, have a duty to those
who died, to those who lost family, to never forget the heresy that was set
upon us that day. We cannot forget how it affected us and we cannot forget
who did this to us. We cannot forget how we stood as one and we cannot
forget that there are things in this world that are more important that us.
We cannot allow political correctness or the promise of political gain cloud
the memory of the duty to which we have committed ourselves.
We made a commitment that day, through the words or our president, George W.
Bush, to eliminate the threat of terror presented to us by those who would
wish us dead. We stood with him as he made that commitment and we should
stand with him as a nation now to honor that commitment. If not for
ourselves then for those who lost their lives that day, and if not for them
then for our children. For if we fail in our commitment to this endeavor we
fail all of them and ourselves. In that case God help us all.
In memory of all those who died and sacrificed their lives on September
11th, 2001.
May God rest your souls.
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