Sunday, November 01, 2009

Do you remember?

I was up late last night and I stumbled across the Pentagon network and watched a program about the 9/11 memorial that opened a year ago. How it came about, who designed it, how it was built, and why....

My heart was touched all over again. Remembering that day hurts. I remember watching peoples eyes and seeing such sadness and feeling overwhelmed. My memories included knowing that some day we might well be in the position of being attacked although I feel alot of that particular feeling is due to the way I was raised in the Air Force. We were ready for anything! There were alerts that our Dad responded to and I remember living in the basement in Denver base housing for a week during the Bay of Pigs incident. I was raised in the Cold and Vietnam wars. In 1966 I flew home to America in an Air Force KC135 loaded with flag draped caskets going home. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get to my seat in the back of that plane. My life changed forever as a result.

A year and one week after 9/11 I was in New York City and then Washington DC for meetings and I saw the hurt and pain still in the eyes of the people on the subways and on the sidewalks. There was a frenetic feel about both cities that was tangible. We visited Ground Zero and the Manhattan and Tribeca firehouses. Such hallowed ground!

What has happened? Why aren't we remembering we are still at war fighting an enemy who would just as soon we all died and continues to search out ways to that end? Where have all our flags gone?