Remember

Here it is on September 13th. Day before yesterday was September 11th. Seven years ago today, the country was still staggering under the blow of the attacks on 9/11.

Families were still holding out hope that maybe, maybe their loved one had survived the catastrophe. Victims were in the midst of the harsh reality of the fact that the co-worker at the next cubicle, had died, but they had lived. All across the nation, people were in a state of shock, the footage of a destroyed tower burning and then a the sudden terror of the sight of a second plane nosediving into its twin. And back in New York, the unbelievable horror of the people who had seen the planes crash, had told their stories, and had subsequently had to flee for their lives from the massive cloud of smoke that billowed through the streets. An employee from one of the towers had watched the plane heading directly for the tower, and had realized that he could not do anything to help himself, he was in the palm of God's hand. A wife across the bay had been watching the TV while the havoc was wreaked just a few miles away-- her husband was in one of those towers-- and talking to his friend whom he had just contacted. As he tried to reassure the distraught wife, she screamed, a horrible ear- shattering scream of utter grief, as she watched the tower that her husband was in crumble. Her husband was dead. Firemen rushed down the stairs as they realized that there was nothing more that they could do, but on meeting a bookkeeper on one of the landings, they decide to throw aside all selfishness and help her escape. Soon, a tower imploded, contracting floor by crushing floor like an accordion, killing people who still lived.

All this was in New York.

In the middle east, however, was a different story. They celebrated in their streets, rejoicing that they had devastated their enemy, America.

Recently, my parents heard a news anchor practically apologizing for airing footage of 9/11 during one of the conventions. He would like to forget as much as possible. He would like to only think of " change" and "hope for America". Well, I'm sorry, but we cannot afford to forget. Not only to honor the memory of the souls who died in the attacks, but because the enemy has not forgotten. The terrorists are just more patient than we are, and if we let their patience pay off, we will pay dearly for it. They are full of religious zeal and we have to hold strong. We have to remember that although we may want to forget-- it is a tear-wrenching memory--they won't. It was victory for them, and it will help motivate them for years to come. We must not let them gain another one. I don't know where we should be in the war, and I am not going to try to explain the reasons or the "should be" behind every current event, but I am going to assert that we cannot forget. We cannot afford to forget.


My mom wrote a great post about this on her blog. Here it is : Remembering that Day


Much of this was learned by watching History Channel's Countdown to Ground Zero.