I do not know where one begins ...
Do you begin by recounting what a beautiful day it was across America? One so pristine and unblemished that it only served to magnify the horror that was about to descend upon America. One so shocking and so diabolical that the whole world bowed alongside the angels and watched the images of death and destruction.
Do you begin by stating that since that beautiful morning we've not had one day pass where our thoughts haven't been on what happened September 11th? Or do we begin by saying how horribly strange it felt to hear the news reports on the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor refer to it as "December 7, 1941 the second worst attack on America". How strange it was to visit Pearl Harbor years ago, in my mind the oil still bubbling onto the surface of the water and permeating the air merged with todays photos of fires still burning at the WTC site four months later. Both images side by side, in our hearts and now recorded as part of the history our parents and now our children have witnessed.
History is not ready for us yet. A beautiful day as the backdrop to the first conflict of the new century. As much as I pray I'm wrong, I'm afraid it won't be the last. We must not be idle for when the time comes to record the events following this outrageous act of evil and destruction is written, we must tell the story so that those not yet born can learn from our experience. History came rushing back to me following the events of 911. The Star Spangled Banner never sounded so good and it will never sound the same for me again because we all felt the power of our nation when we saw that our flag was still there.
And the death toll defending our liberty and freedom will not stop at the horrific number of approx 3000 we have today. For in addition to the WTC there is the Pentagon, 189 lives lost and the personification of bravery from those who made sure that Flight 93 did not make it back to DC because we have sent our military to seek justice and to continue seeking out those groups and nations who's goal it is to take America down by using our freedoms against us. And this mission will take lives of American military before 911 is written down in history.
Trying to understand what we witnessed when those towers collapsed is difficult to grasp. If you take just the NYFD's history, you begin to get a sense of the loss. Between 1955 and the early morning hours of Tuesday September 11, 2001, New York City had lost a total of 340 fireman in the line of duty. In two hours on September 11, 2001- the NYFD lost 343 firefighters.
As difficult as that is to grasp, if we were to take one minute to remember each person who lost their lives that day, it would take us four days. If we were to set aside one day for each person who perished at the World Trade Center....a child born September 11, 2001 would be in high school by the time we finished.
Where do you begin to remember what you will never forget?
Where do you begin to recount and honor those lives?
Such a stunning day of loss. Tragedy beyond
comprehension witnessed by a country at a loss to understand the hatred in the hearts of those who's twisted logic turned
innocence into death. At a loss to comprehend a hate so deep, so cruel, so twisted that it would call forth such evil and yet still find others to do their bidding.
- Our Canadian Neighbors Help Out
Such a beautiful day across America. Almost as if we were held directly in God's light so the canvas of history was almost white waiting for the colors of hell to be painted across the sky. Or was the beauty of the day God's blanket waiting to hold tightly a nation that would certainly be bond together for all eternity? Maybe it stands out in my mind as a contrast to what we were about to endure. For those who come later, let me just state that weather in America that day was calm, clear and clean.
Where do you begin to describe the loss? So much promise for the future, so many children left to grow up without a mother or a father who by all that is good and right, should have been there to hold their hand and to love them. And so many images recording the events as we stood watching the destruction.
We later found that there had been so much courage that day. Voices recorded for posterity that were so
calm in the face of death. Over five thousand deaths.
Did they destroy us by these evil acts? No, in fact three thousand lives taken into eternity while we watched and inside us something happened. There was no generation gap, finally bless them all, there was no question as to what our hearts felt...we were awakened by the bells of liberty. Our eyes saw clearly through the smoke and rubble what America stood for...what we stood for as they tried so hard to take it away, the truth is that those who's lives were lost, did not die in vain. Those who were able to communicate with us that day spoke in a language we all understood, admired and will never forget. Liberty, Freedom is not without a cost. America found itself in the names and faces of those souls who died. Black, brown, white and ash stained gray, we were...we are willing to fight to preserve that freedom. They who seek to destroy us be forewarned. You may take our lives, but you can never take our freedom. (pardon the use of the very appropriate quote from Braveheart).
So I shall begin to recall the events of that day. The events that galvanized our country and disturbed us from our patriotic slumber. Yes we have faith and belief in ourselves, our government and even our petty squabbles smack of freedom at its finest hour. But we did not seek out this faith from high atop a mountain or in a cave hiding away like a rat who knows it stole the cheese. We stand in the open, letting all see who we are, unafraid, knowing that our country is not a piece of ground on this good earth and our faith is not as fragile as the rocks like those mountains and caves of Afghanistan. No, the mountaintop of faith comes from within our hearts, fueled by the fire, smoke and ash we see pouring out of ground zero. Our belief and resolve is tempered by the strongest steele known to man, the steel that once held the lives of three thousand people inside of it, stood proudly on our shores and now awaits us in a new form: One of steaming hot steel collapsed upon layers and layers of twisted and crumpled heaps of concrete, glass and blood.
That is the mountain of faith and spirit that led three thousand climbers to heaven.
Jessica Faltot
Photo's here are to help us remember. They are collected from the net and from folks who sent them in to be added to this tribute. If you have any photos you would like to add, please send them to the email address listed below.
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