I know it shouldn't surprise me but I was sadly disappointed with the coverage of 9/11 this year. I mean, were still at war here--and we may actually be winning! So would it be too much to ask for a single primetime TV program made to honor our armed forces, police, fire and other civil servants? We could have a concert, or a mini-series, a "memories" type program or a "where are we now in the war?" special.But no, instead we get the usual weekly dose of schlock--Big Brother, Ugly Betty, America's got Talent. (Sorry if you like those shows) It makes me mad that the networks think we're more interested in watching folks run from hurricanes or politicians ripping on each other than taking one day and honoring the living and the dead who have given their lives to acts of heroism.
I mean we have special programming commemorating July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think some small thing should be done on "Patriot Day--9/11". B and I went out to Micke-D's for lunch today and she asked me why the flags at the bank were at half-staff. The media is obvioulsy NOT getting certain messages out to everyone. (Though they seem obsessed with "change" and if a conservative woman could stand up to the Russians and Chinese) It's sad and more than a little disgusting.
B and I decided to go out tonight on our weekly date. I wore a polo shirt with American flags all over it. It may sound small and silly but it's what I can do to try and honor those who have fought for and preserved the freedom we enjoy in this country.
I appreciate it and I won't forget.
3 comments:
Well said, Dave. The History Channel covered 9/11, anyway. We watched a very moving show last night. No commentary, just video taken by ordinary people that day in "real" time. I'm glad we were at the beach and able to see it, since we don't get that channel at home. My kids don't really remember it, but I sure do.
Dave, thank you for remembering 9-11, especially our First Responders who gave so much that day.
While I was working at a newspaper in Bucks County, Pa., I wrote a story about a local artist, who donated his talents to create a memorial for Engine 6, located blocks from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. The company lost four of its members who were last seen heading up the stairs of the burning North Tower. This is an excerpt from the story, which is long, but quite powerful:
By J.W.
When he thinks about the heroics of the emergency responders who fearlessly entered the burning towers of the World Trade Center, tears roll down his cheeks.
“It just rips through my soul - just unbelievable,” said Lower Makefield artist Robert Girandola, his voice cracking with emotion. “What these guys did – their courage, their selflessness. It’s just unspeakable.”
With an endless stream of emotion pouring from his own heart, Girandola spent the summer creating a memorial tribute to the heroic actions of September 11, 2001 that will hang in a New York City fire station located just blocks from Ground Zero.
The piece memorializes four New York City firefighters from Engine 6 - Tommy Holohan, Billy Johnston, Pauley Beyer and Lt. Tom O’Hagan - who died that day while ascending the clogged stairwells of the burning towers.
The firefighters, along with survivor Billy Green, were returning from a fire call when they witnessed the planes smash into the buildings. They slowed down, a couple more guys jumped on the truck, and they turned around and sped toward the towers.
“They were inside the tower when they heard the other one collapse,” relates the sculptor, of an account of the events shared with him by Green. “It actually shook the building so violently that they were thrown around like rag dolls. But the thing that amazes me is that they were still going up,” said the artist, his voice quivering.
“I kept saying to Billy, ‘With the towers burning like they were, what did you think you were you going to do?’ And Billy said to me matter of factly, ‘We were going to put out that fire.’
When it became apparant that the North Tower was in danger of collapse, Billy headed down the stairway, which was surprisingly calm and orderly. “It was packed the whole way down. If someone came in from a landing doorway, they would let them in." Knowing what was happening, Billy said later, ‘I just wanted them to run, run, run,' but he didn’t want to create a panic. Meanwhile, the whole building is going.
“Billy had to be one of the last guys to make it out okay. He was running up the street and was about a block away when the tower collapsed. He turned around and looked up and saw the radio tower spin and start to fall.
“He started running, loaded with his turnout gear. The building came rushing down on him. He said it was like being engulfed in flames. He pulled his visor down. At the very last second, all the debris extinguished the fire, but buried him. He was pulled out the rubble - alive.”
It was then that Billy realized that there was no way that the other four firefighters that had gone ahead of him in the stairway could have made it out alive.
As Girandola sculpted every detail of the piece inside his garage studio, a stirring musical tribute, “The Reading of the Names,” played over and over again, repeating the 343 names of the firefighters who perished responding to Ground Zero.
“I remember how terrified I was on September 11," said the Pennsylvania sculptor. "I was scared. I ran home to make sure my family was okay and that we had water and all the essentials,” he said.
“Five years later, I learned about these guys who didn’t run home. They ran to the towers and did everything in their power to save others. They didn’t let fear get in their way,” he said. “We all need to draw from their strength and courage and give that to each other. That would be a legacy that their lives gave us,” he said, his voice again quivering with emotion.
“When I think about September 11th, one thing that I often think about is how there were men randomly killing from above and then there were men randomly saving from below. That juxtaposition just blows me away,” Girandola says.
Always remember, never forget!!! Thanks, Dave.
PS. I wore my Eagle red, white and blue T-shirt all day. It was the least I could do to remember.
Awwwwww Jeff!!
Thanks for that.
It brought tears to my eyes!!!!
Love ya,
~B
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