Thursday, September 11, 2008
9-11-01 Never Forget
It is 12:05 am on 9/11/08. Seven years have passed since the horrific tragedy that took so many innocent lives including my friend Janis Lasden and her boyfriend Don DiTullio. They were on American Flight 11 on their way to a vacation in Palm Springs.
I took this picture of the World Trade Center site two years ago and it hasn't changed much since then.
It is supposed to look like this ......
But money, bureaucracy, greed, and politics have it looking much the same as it did two years ago.
Have you been to the site? It brings up your heart rate, brings tears to your eyes, and makes you wonder if we have learned anything in these past seven years. As a nation we are encouraging people to hate and fear us even more than they did then. As a nation we are encouraging people to commit suicide bombing missions against us. Have we not learned anything from all this?
If you are in New York City, go to St. Paul's Church and see the testimony of so many who sacrificed to help the people trapped in the towers. See the badges of the police and fire departments who volunteered their time to work in the debri and devastation.
There is a sycamore tree that saved St. Paul's from destruction on that fateful day. The sycamore in question is known as "the tree that saved St. Paul's Chapel," because it took the brunt of damage from debris falling from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the chapel remained relatively unscathed. Steve Tobin has made a sculpture of the tree root from this sycamore. Watch the video here.
And to remind you of the truly terrifying moments that individuals faced that day, I honor Karen Martin, the first class flight attendant on Flight 11 from my home town.
Read this actual account from another stewardess who managed to make phone contact until Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Never forget.
Countess Bedelia 9/11/2008 12:05:00 AM