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This Day in History
Sep. 11th, 2003 11:03 pmI know everybody is writing their "where were you?" posts today, and I guess I'm no better, when all is said and done. I know everybody else is saying it's hard to believe it's already been two years since that fateful day, blah blah blah, and I'm hoping this doesn't turn into one of those posts.
Of course I remember what I was doing the day of September 11th, 2001. I was off from school, and I'd gone out partying with friends of mine the night before at the Kappa Sig house. (at least, I think it was the Kappa Sig house.....that part of the night is still blurry.) I awoke at about 9 that morning as the body in the bed next to me stirred, whispering something about having an early class and cross country practice after lunch, so I said goodbye to Abby and let her out the door. Nick and I were moving that morning, as I remember, and after taking a shower and eating breakfast, I sat down at the computer to check my email and wait for the movers to come.
I think it was about 10:00 or so when Gerin IM'd me with one short sentence. "Go turn on your TV.....now."
I asked him for details, wondering what channel I should turn it to, and he just said, go now, you'll understand when you see. Curious and wondering what the hell was going on, I walked into the living room, flipped on the TV, switched to NBC, and watched the first tower burn and the second plane hit.
The most intense memories of that time are, of course, emotions and bits and pieces, snapshots, really, of everything that happened over the next few hours. Shock, disbelief, horror, fear, anger all rushed over me in such rapid succession that I was almost overwhelmed. There were many calls made to my apartment that day- my parents, my grandparents, friends and classmates, and even a few people I didn't know quite so well. Nobody was really sure what would happen next, or even where we would go from there- as my friend Mandy put it so well, it was the day America truly lost her innocence for our generation.
I remembered the stories my grandparents used to tell about Pearl Harbor, and the shock and fear that ran through the country after that, but that attack had been mostly military in nature. This was different, and it was terrorism at it's most pure. Targeted at the majority of the population, designed to be the unthinkable and to strike fear into the hearts of America's citizens. However, like Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Osama Bin Laden may have underestimated out resolve and our flat- out stubbornness as a nation. As Yamamoto said after word reached him of the successful surprise attack on Pearl Harbor,
"I fear all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve."
The rest of the day was a blur- Holly decided to leave school on a whim and came over, but when I wouldn't fuck her, she left. The movers came shortly thereafter, and I managed to get them to save the TV for last. After they took it, I ran over to Morgan and Jer's and stayed there most of the rest of the night. We got drunk- all of us, including Drew, and Onyx, and Mandy, who joined us later. We were scared; no, we were terrified. Being military guys, after all, we had a pretty good idea what could be asked of us. Granted, I don't know of any guy who wasn't ready to go get some revenge that day and the next, but the big question was against who, and how bad would it be. Of course, as time drew on, fingers were eventually pointed, and we overran the nation of Afghanistan, and just recently, Iraq. Still, part of me wonders if we're going about our 'War on Terrorism' the right way. I've made it no small fact to mention that I'm no fan whatsoever of our current commander in chief, and I think back to the terrible costly and mostly useless fiasco his daddy's 'War on Drugs' has been to this point, and think back even farther to our undeclared war on communism that kept us involved in Southeast Asia for far longer than we had any business sending America's young men down there. Now, as I read the news everyday (after all, most of the networks are quite conservativly biased), and read about the 2 or 3 soldiers that are dying each day in Iraq or Afghanistan, I remember stories my grandfather told me of his experiences of war, and pray that they're not dying in vain, and in that same prayer hope that I will not be called upon to make that same sacrifice. I will follow my commander in chief's orders, as long as they are legal and constitutional, because I have sworn to do so and because I understand that all the freedoms that come with this great nation come paid in the blood of her young men and women, giving their lives to uphold and defend all that we hold true.
I'm not afraid to die- I'm afraid to die for nothing, and in some ways I'm afraid that's where we're heading with this new and different kind of warfare. So as I sit here and drink my beer as I close out my thoughts, I raise my glass in memory of all those who died in the terrible tragedies that hit our country 2 years ago, in memory of all those who have died since then in the name of letting this never happen again on American soil, and to those of us who will someday be called upon to make that ultimate sacrifice for what we believe in. We will never forget you, God bless you and keep you.
Of course I remember what I was doing the day of September 11th, 2001. I was off from school, and I'd gone out partying with friends of mine the night before at the Kappa Sig house. (at least, I think it was the Kappa Sig house.....that part of the night is still blurry.) I awoke at about 9 that morning as the body in the bed next to me stirred, whispering something about having an early class and cross country practice after lunch, so I said goodbye to Abby and let her out the door. Nick and I were moving that morning, as I remember, and after taking a shower and eating breakfast, I sat down at the computer to check my email and wait for the movers to come.
I think it was about 10:00 or so when Gerin IM'd me with one short sentence. "Go turn on your TV.....now."
I asked him for details, wondering what channel I should turn it to, and he just said, go now, you'll understand when you see. Curious and wondering what the hell was going on, I walked into the living room, flipped on the TV, switched to NBC, and watched the first tower burn and the second plane hit.
The most intense memories of that time are, of course, emotions and bits and pieces, snapshots, really, of everything that happened over the next few hours. Shock, disbelief, horror, fear, anger all rushed over me in such rapid succession that I was almost overwhelmed. There were many calls made to my apartment that day- my parents, my grandparents, friends and classmates, and even a few people I didn't know quite so well. Nobody was really sure what would happen next, or even where we would go from there- as my friend Mandy put it so well, it was the day America truly lost her innocence for our generation.
I remembered the stories my grandparents used to tell about Pearl Harbor, and the shock and fear that ran through the country after that, but that attack had been mostly military in nature. This was different, and it was terrorism at it's most pure. Targeted at the majority of the population, designed to be the unthinkable and to strike fear into the hearts of America's citizens. However, like Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Osama Bin Laden may have underestimated out resolve and our flat- out stubbornness as a nation. As Yamamoto said after word reached him of the successful surprise attack on Pearl Harbor,
"I fear all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve."
The rest of the day was a blur- Holly decided to leave school on a whim and came over, but when I wouldn't fuck her, she left. The movers came shortly thereafter, and I managed to get them to save the TV for last. After they took it, I ran over to Morgan and Jer's and stayed there most of the rest of the night. We got drunk- all of us, including Drew, and Onyx, and Mandy, who joined us later. We were scared; no, we were terrified. Being military guys, after all, we had a pretty good idea what could be asked of us. Granted, I don't know of any guy who wasn't ready to go get some revenge that day and the next, but the big question was against who, and how bad would it be. Of course, as time drew on, fingers were eventually pointed, and we overran the nation of Afghanistan, and just recently, Iraq. Still, part of me wonders if we're going about our 'War on Terrorism' the right way. I've made it no small fact to mention that I'm no fan whatsoever of our current commander in chief, and I think back to the terrible costly and mostly useless fiasco his daddy's 'War on Drugs' has been to this point, and think back even farther to our undeclared war on communism that kept us involved in Southeast Asia for far longer than we had any business sending America's young men down there. Now, as I read the news everyday (after all, most of the networks are quite conservativly biased), and read about the 2 or 3 soldiers that are dying each day in Iraq or Afghanistan, I remember stories my grandfather told me of his experiences of war, and pray that they're not dying in vain, and in that same prayer hope that I will not be called upon to make that same sacrifice. I will follow my commander in chief's orders, as long as they are legal and constitutional, because I have sworn to do so and because I understand that all the freedoms that come with this great nation come paid in the blood of her young men and women, giving their lives to uphold and defend all that we hold true.
I'm not afraid to die- I'm afraid to die for nothing, and in some ways I'm afraid that's where we're heading with this new and different kind of warfare. So as I sit here and drink my beer as I close out my thoughts, I raise my glass in memory of all those who died in the terrible tragedies that hit our country 2 years ago, in memory of all those who have died since then in the name of letting this never happen again on American soil, and to those of us who will someday be called upon to make that ultimate sacrifice for what we believe in. We will never forget you, God bless you and keep you.
