September 11, 2001: A horrendous day in US history. The World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon were attacked. If not for the brave souls aboard Flight 93, the White House would have been attacked as well. Whereas Pearl Harbor was our parents' day of infamy, this was my generation's unforgettable where-were-you day. The History Channel has a timeline (http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-timeline) and video of events Fourteen years later, 9/11 is fading from memory and lessons learned in the days followinG are being forgotten. One such example is this report (http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/11/video-college-students-blame-bush-economics-for-911-video/) by the Young America's Foundation. Regardless of your politics and how you feel about President George W. Bush, I would invite you to read at least Chapter 5, "Day of Fire", of his book "Decision Points" (Crown Publishers, ISBN 978-0-307-59061-9, 2010). It's an interesting look at the harrowing hours aboard Air Force One and in Washington in the hours following the attack. On a slightly lighter note, this morning, after a moment of silence, ESPN debuted a short film by Jim Gray on the nation's early steps to recovery with a decision to play baseball. President Bush threw out a ceremonial first pitch at the third World Series game between the Yankees and Diamondbacks. Again, regardless of your politics, Much more than a thrown strike, it looks at the events and the remembrances of people involved. I recommend it. It will re-air on ESPN tonight. The video is currently on line at http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13617860 titled as a 30 on 30 "First Pitch" film. Never forget.
My heart aches for the victims and the victims families. I hate seeing footage of it. It makes me ill.
https://youtu.be/18lsxFcDrjo Look at this short video of the liitle-known evacuation of lower Manhattan.by ssa. I never saw this before. It shows the goodness of those who stepped up to help in the time of need. Anazing. Never forget.
http://barkpost.com/dogs-best-day-bretagne/ A nice story about the last known living rescue dog to search for survivors in the WTC rubble. Never forget.
Yes, it was a sad and somber day for sure, especially for those of us in the United States Anyone who did not shed tears on that day or shortly there after should be ashamed. But who really should be ashamed is those who supported or who encouraged terrorism. May you rot in Hell. I am not usually a vindictive kind of person...but that was just such a horrible thing. RIP 9/11 victims.
I just saw that story on the news. The sweet dog just celebrated her 16th birthday. God Bless her for the work she did on that tragic day when she was little more than a pup. I imagine that is a memory that faded in her mind almost as soon as it was over, but the help and care she provided on that day lives on.
It was definitely a sad day and like most people I can still remember where I was when the whole day was unfolding. That's the kind of event it will be for most of us. But I hope that those that were too young to fully comprehend what was going on will understand the significance of the day. It did indeed change a lot of things. We may be 14 years on from it all but there certainly hasn't been a clear resolution to what happened.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/4909/terrorism-united-states.aspx On a related note, Gallup's poll on how worried Americans are afraid that they, or a family member, will be harmed by terrorism reached its highest level since 2001. (I am in that camp.) I would suggest that the next President -- the third leader in the fight -- has to take a proactive role and reconfigure the current components of what now is named Homeland Security. It seems to me that the department is akin to a large cruise ship: you can't turn the ship quickly to react to the rapidly moving ice field drifting in the path of the ship. A nimble warrior -- akin to T.E. Lawrence (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-lawrence-arabia-180951857/) -- capable of moving and striking fear into those attempting to do harm would, in my opinion, be preferable to the reactionary and holding actions that seem to be the actions currently in place stateside.
