story1948.xml

story1948.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-09

Alone, in my kitchen with my sports page, my coffee, my Beagle, that beautiful weather that morning and the everpresent 13 inch TV. My thoughts around 9:15 are irretrievable, a million dollars laid before me could not make me remember now what small thoughts where occupying my mind at the moment I focused on the image from my little TV. A reporter on a rooftop, with the building in the distance, over his shoulder. It all came next. Unlike a conventional fire scene, where your perspective is from the ground up, with all the accompanying men and equipment, the beautiful Towers, our Towers that where to be a wonder for the eyes and the ages for generations to come, stood with their wounds high up in the sky, so helpless they looked, in retrospect, they seemed alive, staggered like wounded animals, they're killing them and we can't reach up to help them. When they showed my fellow citizens jumping. Just jumping into death to avoid the fire, I had by then dropped to my knees, fully aware of what I was watching, the reality of it, and prayed to God to make it stop. It got worse.
But History will show that the seeds for our victorys to come where sown before the beautiful Towers even collapsed.
The moment people started to help others, the fact that hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers had arrived, gone in, and where fighting to get high into the sky to save others is our strength. We have taken the courage shown just minutes after the supposedly wonderful victory over America and congealed it into a pit of the stomach resolve to never let them do this again. How Pyric a victory that left behind the weapon that will destroy them- American courage. I've studied American history since I was a boy. And I've often wondered if past generations where a stronger lot than we, I mean how could men do the things I read about, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Gettysburg. How could Picketts men begin the charge, take the actual steps into the open field, knowing that they were running face first into certain death. Where did they get that courage? Do we have that today? After watching film of the fireman in the lobby of the beautiful Towers willing to charge face first up the stairs I feel an awe that until now has been reserved for the most famous of our Patriots. And that is how they will be remembered, American Patriots who performed their Duty so well that they "stole the thunder" from their attackers before the sun even set that day. Within a day we had learned of the flight over Pennsylvania, and the American courage displayed, by Americans to save other Americans. And we drew strength from this. Let future generations read and wonder how in the days that followed Americans, even with the news that Antrax had been released in our cities, found the courage to function. We went to work, we continued to live and we will now confront our enemies face first. And we will forever be grateful to those brave people who performrd their duty on the darkest hour in American history.