In two months from today we will be marking the 10 year "anniversary" of the 9-11 attacks. I remember that morning all too clearly. I was sleeping in late and was awoken by a good friend of mine screaming a message into my answering machine: GET THE FUCK UP AND TURN ON YOUR TV!!!.
What I saw froze me in my tracks. One of the World Trade Center Towers was in flames. Ten minutes later, on live coverage, I saw a plane come out of nowhere and impact the South Tower. Holy fucking shit, what the fuck was going on???
Over the next hour I heard that the Pentagon had been hit by a 757, the skies were being cleared and more jets came over my apartment into Dane County Regional Airport than I had ever heard before. And then the jet crashed in Pennsylvania. Nose down. We were under attack... And Madison responded amazingly. We welcomed over 2500 hundred disrupted travelers with our arms wide open. I am so proud of us.
My neighbor across the hall was on his way back from Bang Kok. He got diverted to Vancouver, BC and it took him almost two weeks to make it back home. My very first partner was scheduled to be on the plane that hit the North Tower. He had finished business in Boston early the night before and caught a red-eye back to Chicago late on 9/10. It's strange how things touch you, eat at your soul and make you wonder what might have been...
To the nearly 3000 who died in the attacks and to the hundreds who died later of contamination and toxic effects, I salute you. You are my heroes. I watched as America's darkest day played out on live television in a matter of hours. I am still shocked, wounded and humbled.
What was this about??? Why??? NO!!! JUST FUCKING NO!!! You bastards, how could you have done this??? I hope you all rot in hell. Without those 40 virgins you all were expecting to get!!! Yeah, guys, wrist one off, that's all you deserve...
Today, we are a stronger but more paranoid country and a more resilient but fearful place. We will deal with that dichotomy. We are, America, after all. Take warning, you have only made us a stronger and more determined force to deal with. Keep looking back over your shoulder and don't go to sleep, it's not in your best interest.
9/11. We will never, ever forget...
No comments:
Post a Comment