9.11
I know it almost seems cliche to use the term 9.11, or, now-a-days, to even pay mention to it. But how can we, as Americans, fail to mention or take note today of what happened just one year ago, to remember, reflect and memorialize? It was one year ago today I was sleepy-eyed in my hotel room, having just fallen asleep an hour before from working a red-eye flight to Chicago when my phone rang. It was my brother, Brian, with the terrible news. Together, on the phone, we watched the unfolding tragedy in disbelief, as we all did.
In the past year we have seen the country, the people, come together like never before. What a tribute to all those lost and personally involved. We have thanked the heroes endlessly and hailed those who unselfishly faced danger to save others. Yet, for me, there has been a void in the memorials and praises over the past year. We have failed, as a country, to remember those who faced this terrible adversity first: the men, women and chidlren on board those hijacked airliners. Let us not forget that a flight attendant was first to die that day, followed by two pilots and then 29 other crewmembers, along with the passengers on board. We have heard the battle cry, "Let's roll!" many times, as we commemorate the incredibly heroic acts of those onboard United flight 93. We faintly here about the crews onboard American flight 11, the first to hit the World Trade Center, or United flight 175, the second to hit the Trade Center or AA flight 77, that hit the Pentagon.
There is personal pain here, for me, and certainly the reasoning behind my strong emotions. I visited Ground Zero on September 24, just two weeks after the attacks with my parents. I went back two weeks later and was given a personal tour by NYPD, along with three coworkers. A make-shift memorial had been created along the Hudson River, behind the Financial Trade Center. There, we saw four foot high piles of teddy bears, flowers, cards and t-shirts left by those who lost loved ones. As we read over the tributes, a card laying open caught the eye of JoAnn, one of the flight attendants I was with. She looked up at me, with tears in here eyes, and said, "You've got to read this." So, I bent down to read the card and it read something like this, 'Dear Kevin, we miss you so much. You were a great person and we promise to take care of Beth....' JoAnn knew my wife Beth and so she knew the signifigance of what that card said. We stood there and cried together for a brief moment before having to leave. It became all too clear how lucky I was to not be onboard one of those hijacked airliners. As many know, I often flew to Boston, sometimes several times in one month.
So I take it personally that there is a group of men and women who have been forgotten. Everyone who played a roll in the events of that Septmeber day deserve there place in the hearts and minds of all Americans. So, it is my hope that, from this day forward, when memorializing those tragedies, we remember *all* the heroes.
It is important that today we take a moment to reflect, in the way we sit fit for ourselves.
