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| 9/11/01 Remembered - Sep. 9, 2005 |
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Foreword
It is imperative that we remember our fallen 9/11/01 brothers and sisters every single day. But the day to do so in a more specific way has almost arrived again.
Two years ago, on the second anniversary of 9/11/01 and in remembrance of that ghastly day, I published the following piece. It was nothing more than a collage of material I had written previously, in close proximity to what Americans will now always remember as the "first 9/11."
Whether republication as it appeared originally in 2003 becomes an annual event, I'm not sure. I republished it last year, and here it is again, as it was presented on 9/11/03. -- Doug Gillespie
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From "9/11/01 Remembered," originally published on 9/11/03:
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POLITICAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
I'm a registered Republican (by default), but consider
myself a conservative with a few libertarian leanings.
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Introduction
Who does not possess some political bias? I have no problem with people having them. After all, this is still -- nominally, at least -- an America of free speech.
However, something with which I do have a problem are people attempting to further political agendas while at the same time attempting purposely either to conceal or even "fib" about their personal political biases. The recent scandals at the New York Times are a pretty sound example. And perhaps when others in the mainstream media wake up, they will finally understand why millions of Americans no longer take them at all seriously. CBS, for instance, might come to understand why Dan Rather does poorly in once-strong markets, even in competing against second- and third-rate sitcom reruns.
[I had no idea, of course, when the above material was written, that Rather and his employer would be in the midst of their current journalistic "difficulties.")
At any rate, since some of the following material contains a strong political statement or two, I think it only fair that readers know where I am coming from. Thus, the political disclosure statement that appears above.
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Onward
In the New York area, 9/11/03 begins very similarly [as will 9/11/05] to how 9/11/01 began. The weather is virtually identical -- clear and warm, but not hot, with great visibility. The latter would permit many of us at significant distance from "ground zero" two years ago to appreciate in a most surreal way the horror of what had taken place there.
Shortly before 9:00 AM, the radio station to which I was listening reported that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. For whatever reason, I immediately believed it an act of terrorism. When the South Tower was struck not long thereafter, there was no doubt about this on anyone's part.
With two children working in Manhattan that day, one just across the street from the WTC, I simply cannot describe the horrible feelings and thoughts I experienced. And these were exacerbated severely by the real-time, on-site television coverage that had already commenced.
I immediately contacted my wife, who was at work a few miles away. Patt was aware of what had happened, and we agreed that she would stay there, while I remained at home, manning the telephone for calls we now prayed would arrive.
Regular telephone service in and out of NYC was already badly impaired. Soon, "civilian" cell-phone service would be curtailed completely, to provide extra capacity for emergency workers.
Not long afterwards, I received an e-mail from my daughter, who works in midtown Manhattan. I returned the e-mail, telling her what I knew about what was going on. I then immediately let Patt know Blythe was okay.
As I recall, the South Tower of the WTC collapsed soon
thereafter, an event I witnessed on TV. So did Patt from work. I called her right away, saying I'd come immediately to bring her home. Before we arrived home, the North Tower also had collapsed.
A crest of a hill on the route home offers an unrestricted view of the Manhattan skyline, a distance of approximately 30 miles from where the World Trade Center had stood not long before. Now visible was a huge, ghastly plume of smoke and debris, rising at least hundreds, but by now, probably thousands of feet into the distant sky. As you might imagine, all we thought about was our son, whose office was only a short distance from this hellish scene.
Around noon that day, we received a phone call from Douglas, who had made it out of NYC in one piece. He was in Hoboken, where NJ Transit was attempting to operate train service out of the area. It would be hours before we were reunited with our children. Nevertheless, both were alive!
On 9/11/01, after our children were accounted for, I sent out the first of a few "flash" updates I authored over the next couple days. I would like to share excerpts of these, along with something I sent out on 2001's Thanksgiving Eve.
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From "Flash 1," authored in the early PM of 9/11/01:
It's hard to know what to say about today's events...Both of our children, 27-year-old Blythe and 24-year-old Douglas, work in Manhattan, and Douglas' office is only a couple blocks from the World Trade Center. Both kids are okay, thank God!
Douglas heard the first plane hit the WTC, and saw the second one do so about 15 minutes later. The latter may have saved his life, since he immediately knew it was terrorism and fled the area. From his firsthand account, my familiarity with the area from having commuted to and worked in the financial district for years, as well as from the pictures we've seen on television, our guess would be that the final death toll will be in the many thousands.
...Lots of our friends and neighbors here in Ho-Ho-Kus work in that part of Manhattan. I drove by the local train station a while ago and was struck by the eery realization that at least some of the people whose cars were parked in the lot are surely now dead. [This was to be the case.]
Because of his quick actions, Douglas was able to get out of Manhattan back to New Jersey via ferry, although all ways in and out of the city to New Jersey are currently closed to all but emergency personnel, so we're not sure how and when Blythe will return home. But God has spared us from direct tragedy. We now pray for the souls and families of who were not as fortunate [emphatically including those who perished in Shanksville, PA, and at the Pentagon].
I am extremely emotionally charged at the moment, on the political front in particular. So I better conclude this short piece now, before I say things I may regret, particularly about the Clinton "legacy." Anyone watching TV right now is witnessing this awful blight on the country firsthand!
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From "Flash 2," authored on 9/12/01:
It's very unclear when the US financial markets will reopen. In the interim, though, I'll share some thoughts as they come along, in brief research pieces.
Unquestionably, a major influence on the markets when they resume operation will be how well and how quickly the US can restore something resembling normal functions. Resumption of commercial air service is an example. As I write this, it remains the intent of the FAA to get some level of operations going today. What's important with something like this is don't say you're going to do it, then renege very much if at all. There is an obvious security risk here, but it won't engender much public confidence if the government shows equivocal behavior.
While due process is of paramount importance to a democracy, federal law enforcement operations regarding the terrorist investigation must move along with the highest level of dispatch. There are many, many people like me who believe that Janet Reno left behind a dysfunctional, highly corrupted Justice Department, with the FBI a major victim of her malfeasance. Therefore, Attorney General Ashcroft must be sure the very best of what remains of the FBI is spearheading the investigation. He and those in Congress who have oversight responsibilities might also consider revisiting the TWA-800 investigation.
I believe it is also important for the Executive Branch not to tarry in launching a retaliatory strike of massive, destructive proportions. This absolutely must not be killing a few innocent people in a Sudanese aspirin factory, or some [ineffective] lobbing of cruise missiles into Afghanistan. Because of what this represents payback for, the operation must rank high on the list of worst things ever done by the United States to its enemies!
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From "Some Thoughts for Thanksgiving -- and Beyond," Authored on 11/21/01:
A couple Sunday nights ago, ABC TV commemorated Veterans Day by airing "Saving Private Ryan." I was familiar with the story line, but had not seen the movie. Very powerful stuff to be sure, and kudos to [ABC] for paying the big bucks to help educate the large and growing segment of the country's population that is unfamiliar with D-Day and its horrific human costs.
...Over the last few weeks, I've been in an increasingly morose funk, sensing that the mainstream media was all too quickly de-emphasizing the horrors of 9/11. Ironically, I think it was ABC making the initial decision to curtail -- as in "stop" -- showing the attack on the World Trade Center and the collapse of the towers. "Too scary for little children," was the claim.
Not being a fan of the country's left-leaning media, I was suspicious. This sense of suspicion certainly was not diminished when ABC's own Peter Jennings was one of the "journalists" out front early in "examining" (euphemism for "starting") the controversy about whether the US would bomb those poor Taliban Muslims during Ramadan.
...My morose funk progressed into a deeper state today, when my son and daughter were discussing what the families of two kids -- Neal and Rob -- might be feeling tomorrow [on Thanksgiving 2001]. Neal was 25, Rob had just turned 30. Both were terrific kids my kids grew up with; both were murdered in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
...Watching "Saving Private Ryan" reminded me of a poem by Archibald MacLeish that I had read years ago...It is unquestionably cynical and depressing, but I think it contains the kind of stuff all Americans should think about much more frequently than we do. In addition, I believe you will quickly see how this poem evokes tangential pathos with respect to the thousands of our fellow citizens who were wiped out on the 11th, as ABC and others paternalistically "shield" us from the horrors of the slaughter.
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LINES FOR AN INTERMENT
-- Archibald MacLeish
Now it is fifteen years you have lain in the meadow:
The boards at your face have gone through: the earth is
Packed down and the sound of the rain is fainter:
The roots of the first grass are dead.
It's a long time to lie in the earth with your honor:
The world, Soldier, the world has been moving on.
The girls wouldn't look at you twice in the cloth cap:
Six years old they were when it happened:
It bores them even in books: "Soissons besieged!"
As for the gents, they have joined the American Legion:
Belts and a brass band and the ladies' auxiliaries:
The Californians march in the OD silk.
We are all acting again like civilized beings:
People mention it at tea ...
The Facts of Life we have learned are Economic:
You were deceived by the detonations of bombs:
You thought of courage and death when you thought of warfare.
Hadn't they taught you the fine words were unfortunate?
Now that we understand we judge without bias:
We feel of course for those who had to die:
Women have written us novels of great passion
Proving the useless death of the dead was a tragedy.
Nevertheless it is foolish to chew gall:
The foremost writers on both sides have apologized:
The Germans are back in the Midi with cropped hair:
The English are drinking the better beer in Bavaria.
You can rest now in the rain in the Belgian meadow --
Now that it's all explained and forgotten:
Now that the earth is hard and the wood rots:
Now you are dead ...
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