This
years September 11th Memorial Article focus on the hero’s of Flight 93
who personafied bravery, heroism and self sacrifce.
September 11th, 2004
In memorial - Flight 93
I never make it all the way though
an article on the first try when the
content is about September 11th’s United Airlines Flight 93. Somewhere
while reading the article I always stop and put it down or walk away
from the computer screen. Then I walk around the house for a few
minutes. I’ll make a cup of coffee or give my oldest son a hug… this
year I’ll be able to give my youngest son (who’ll be 8 days shy of a
month old) a kiss on the cheek or pick him up. I procrastinate in
finishing the article.
Writing about this subject is even
worse. I’ve typed a few words then
repeated the routine… walk around, kiss my wife and sons, make a cup of
coffee… maybe even go on-line and make believe that I’m looking for
more material to write about while actually avoiding the subject.
Writing about this is something that can’t be done in one sitting.
The question is why can’t I endure
writing about this for more than 5
minutes at a time? And am I alone when it comes to writing about Flight
93 because out of all the events that happened on September 11th it
feels as if it’s the least written about. I might be wrong because we
don’t read much about the Pentagon in Washington D.C. loss on September
11th too much, either.
Out of all the stories on September
11th though… this seems to touch me
more deeply. We’ve all read the stories about those few passengers on
the plane that were able to call home and tell their families what had
happened. As soon as the passengers found out that two other planes had
struck The World Trade Centers in New York and the Pentagon and they
knew the plane had turned and headed east towards Washington D.C. they
knew their situation wasn’t a simple hijacking. They knew the plane
they were on was going to be used as a missile just as the others had
on that day. Not only were their lives at stake, but so were the lives
of countless strangers somewhere in the area. The Capitol Building, the
monuments, the White House… they didn’t know but they understood what
was at stake and they didn’t want to be remembered as victims who were
a part of this horror.
We also know that some of the
passengers decided to take the plane
back. What is not clear though is if the pilots were killed along
with one of the flight attendants when the terrorists first took the
plane… there is also no way of knowing what was their intention was if
they ever took the plane back from the hijackers.
Lets Roll
I’m thinking that through it all I
have to ask myself what would I have
done if I were in this situation. The phone call to my wife, hearing
the news of what already happened, and hearing about other passengers
making plans to fight back. Let’s be honest and harsh here… I have a
temper that sometimes comes through some of my writing. And let’s also
be brutal here, I have no subtlety, I have no patience… I’m the guy who
has to put something together right out of the box by going to the last
page in the directions and see how it all goes together in the end. I’m
creative but I lack the composure to stick to any strategy that I
create.
Also, I’m not ready to die.
I don’t mean that in a cowardice way and
that there isn’t anything that I wouldn’t actually die for. There are
plenty of things I would die for: my wife, by two boys, my family. I’m
just not ready to die now. Right now things have just started getting
GOOD in my life and I don’t want it to end just when I’ve started
living. I would like to believe that my anger and rage would take over
fueled by the fear of being remembered as a coward that would cause me
to do something. My wife said that she knows that I would do something…
but she’s afraid that I would do it too soon, half cocked and in too
much anger. Anyone who’s read any of my rants or posts knows there’s a
bit of truth in that.
To be fair, we all know that
each one of us deep inside wants to
believe that in the face of danger we would stand up and do the right
thing. We also know that there are times when we have and other times
when we haven’t. Some of you are wincing right now while remembering
some of those times when you should of stood up and didn’t… which is
ok. In writing this paragraph I just stood up, walked around the house,
kissed my wife after telling her that I loved her and hugged my boys.
What just took you half a minute to read took me half a day to write
because I’ve tried to avoid the uncomfortable feelings you have now.
The fact is, the people who
were on that plane probably felt the same
way about life as we do. They were people just like you and I. Doubt
what I’m writing? Check out the issue of Reader’s Digest this
month and read the article “Flight 93: What I never knew” which was
written by one of the widows that was left behind that morning by her
husband. It's a four page article which takes me about 45 minutes to
read… (again… walk around the house, make a cup of coffee, hug the wife
and boys and tell them I love them.) They DID the hard thing during the
most unimaginable circumstances. Imagine you just heard on the phone
that terror beyond your conception… and you’re about to die because
it’s happening again right where you are. That’s what they went through
and because the worst DIDN’T happen because the plane never made it to
the destination we’ll never know what they prevented. They’re
heroes but we’ll never know to what extent.
“Get Ready”
Jumping gears for a minute, I have
to talk about another terror related
issue. Here’s an excerpt of an article that I had submitted to both
TIME and NEWSWEEK.
July 6th at 2:50pm, one of my
wife’s co-workers witnessed Middle
Eastern men acting suspiciously while taking photographs of the Stop
And Shop in a southeastern Mass suburban town.
On July 20th in Charlotte, North
Carolina a man was arrested who had
taken video footage of Bank of America Building and the Wachovia
Building. He also had other videos with footage of landmark buildings
in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas and New Orleans.
On August 10, 2004, my wife and I
observed on Daniel Webster Highway in
Nashua New Hampshire, a Middle Eastern man filming footage of all of
the strip malls and large buildings on this road. The police were
called twice, once while the subject was on the road, again when
heading into the Pheasant Lane Mall. No officer arrived.
Take for account for a minute that
we are indeed living in a free
society here in the United States and the majority of the Western
world. If you’re reading this article most likely you live in a free
society. But why are Middle Eastern men taking video of everyday
buildings and traffic patters in this era of “high alerts” and requests
from the government to call if we see such suspicious activities? Think
of a logical explanation of why this seems to be happening all at once
and it’s one group of people who seem to be doing this and not some
other ethnic group. Are these intellectual midgets who have a sick
sense of humor and we’re being taunted because of our political
correctness or is there something more sinister going on?
According to the tapes discovered
in the Al-Qaeda training camps,
terrorists have been practicing to perpetrate horrors beyond our
imagination for years now. Knowing that they have also been surveying
new landmarks and shopping centers we can only conclude there is a
pending disaster in our immediate future. The most recent bombings of
two Russian Airliners, the Moscow subway station on August 30, and the
senseless slaughter of children proves what they are capable of. It’s
only a matter of time before such attacks occur with in the United
States. Putting up a website such as “Ready.Gov” isn’t enough. Local
officials have to take immediate steps to actually “get ready”.
The Fedora Chronicles Connection.
In the days after the attack, the
country pulled together. There was an
obvious tangible feeling that we had all experienced something together
here in The United States. It was an event that we all saw at the
same time, went through at the same time and we were all shaken by
those events. I can still see the faces of the people at the shopping
center down the road and their expressions the following Saturday. This
was a historical event that effected everyone to one degree or another…
all of us were horrified, then angry then ready for action to be taken
to prevent this from happening again.
In the past three years The United
States has received a lot of
criticism for its approach on the war on terror. Some of the censure
the US is getting comes from the media and some of the leftist
politicians. From across the oceans and through the airwaves the claims
are all the same: George Bush rushed into this war on terror with out
getting a broader coalition from countries like France, Germany…
All of Europe is in the same boat:
if the United States didn’t get
involved in the Second World War against Nazi Germany the war would
have had a different outcome. More countries would have been seized by
the Axis powers and millions more Jews would have died. At the time the
United States was criticized for not getting involved and rightly
so. 70% of Americans were against any involvement in the war in
Europe. Then over night, after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December
7th 1941, 90% of all Americans were for the war and became involved to
end it as quickly as possible.
Three months shy of the 60th
anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the tables
have been turned. I believe the United States OVER LEARNED the lessons
of the Second World War: When attacked, strike back quickly and
decisively because you don’t know how soon they will strike again.
The gallant hero’s on Flight
93 knew that there wasn’t time for a
debate or to fight a “sensitive war” against the hijackers. While they
didn’t know what was the planned destination, they knew they had to do
something immediately. These brave men and women did the right thing
and may have saved hundreds or thousands of others they’ll never know.
They did what they should have done and what I hope all of us would do
if we were that type of predicament.
What saddens me finally is
that on September 11th, many heroes died
that day. There were many great acts of bravery and heroism. We
have no idea if they were members of our favorite forums because often
people leave with out saying good bye… some of them were friends we
were meant to make but never had the chance.
The Heroes of Flight 93 personified
bravery, heroism and self sacrifce.
This Saturday, September 11th, 2004 I would ask all of you to raise
your glass and toast “to absent friends”.
