As I sit down to write this post, I honestly have no idea where I’m going with it. I’ve got some thoughts in mind but they’re not fully formed. I’ve talked in previous years about where we were on September 11th, 2001 so I won’t bother rehashing it here other to say that we were living in DC. It’s been 11 years and while the buildings have been rebuilt and we’ve gone on with our lives I can say unequivocally that we have not forgotten.
I’m sad to say that I saw very few flags flown today. Mine was out at dawn and is still flying late into the night as I type this. There were a whole slew of Facebook and Twitter updates today most of which had a somber tone to them. But I can honestly say that I’m a bit shocked at how few people took notice that today was the anniversary of the greatest American tragedy in most of our lives. I had 3-4 co-workers who when I mentioned something about September 11th, looked at me with blank stares and when it dawned on them they’d say, “Oh, I completely forgot about that…” or something similar. I simply don’t know how that would be possible.
I’ve read more books, watched more documentaries and digested more blogs, forums and web pages about September 11th than probably about any other day in history. I’ve read the official position, I’ve read the conspiracy theories. As with most things in life we’ll probably never know the truth, but it’s probably somewhere in the middle. I can honestly say that I don’t believe the official story of what happened that day, but that’s neither here nor there. The day fascinates me not from a morbid perspective, but because of what a tragedy it was. I wasn’t around during Pearl Harbor, Kennedy’s assassination or D-Day, but I can only imagine that those created similar feelings among Americans.
Why Isn’t Patriot Day a National Holiday?
Speaking of Americans… Today is a day to truly be AN AMERICAN. No political bullshit. No Democrats. No Republicans. Its September and I can’t even begin to tell you how sick I am of hearing about Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. Let’s face it… they both suck. But that’s another post for another time. Today is about being an American. Some of the apathetic stuff that I saw today was appalling. I just can’t fathom how someone living in this country couldn’t care about today. I’m left to shake my head… and remember.
Should September 11th be a National Holiday? It is for me. I will never forget. God bless America.
