Posted on 12/10/2002 8:06:29 PM PST by null and void
Everyone, may I tell a story? It deals with patriotism.
On November 13, 1978, a quite typical pair of parents brought their then-ten year old boy to Manhatten to show him around the city of his birth. The boy was fascinated, and, in the modern parlance, "blown away" by the huge buildings and the lights and the noise. Such things were almost beyond his comprehension, having grown up in a sedate suburb an hour to the north.
He thrilled to the subway, reveled in the cultures he saw in Little Italy and Chinatown and Harlem. He lit candles at St. Patrick's Cathedral for his cousin (Viet Nam, 1969) and his late grandmother. He saw the relentless lights of Broadway and Times Square. One experience, amongst all of these, stood out however.
That highlight was a tour of the World Trade Center, then the world's tallest buildings (or so Pop said...). He stood before the immense towers, looking up, and up, and UP, saying "WOW!" in that infectious way of ten-year-olds. As he walked past, still staring at the reflection of the sky above him, a kindly cop, in one of the old-fashioned uniforms of the day, a huge blue greatcoat, touseled his hair with a jolly smile and a slight accent,"They're BIG, ain't they, Lad?"
After a thrilling ride in what must have been the largest elevator in the world, the boy stood on the TOP floor, face pressed against the glass, looking at the magnificence of the world below. The wondrous city. The bold, beautiful Statue in the Harbor. Ellis Island, whence his grandparents disembarked at the Century's turn, to start their new lives as...AMERICANS!
The word blazed in the boy's consciousness like it never had before. AMERICA had done all this, this majesty he saw on that cold, clear day. And in his wonder at that thought, he realized that HE WAS A PART OF IT!!! It was HIS legacy, and all others who said that Pledge of Alliegience.
I'll never forget that day...it was the day I fell in love for the first time, not with a woman, but with my country. Not with a person, but with an Ideal I saw as clearly as a rising Sun in my head that day. It WAS love...a Patriot's kind of love. I had seen my country's abilities, its strength, its potential and I had been swept away by it, forever.
My father bought me a small souvenier coin that they sold there for about five bucks. It had the date and my name engraved over an image of the Twin Towers, backed on the tails side by the Statue of Liberty. I wonder if he and Mom knew what they were doing that day, what it would mean to me in my life.
I carry that coin to this day, in the arm pocket of my flightsuit. It travels with me everywhere, on missions, to class with my students(ALL of whom have seen it and heard similar words to these). It reminds me.
It reminds me of the sorrow I felt on Black Tuesday when I watched, tears streaming, one of my most treasured memories assaulted, brutalized, penetrated, and destroyed. As Mrs. Cut and I wept for the dead, I wept for that piece of the puzzle that is me that died. I also swore vengeance, in whatever way my abilities allowed. I'm in this war for the duration. I WILL have revenge on those blackguards who killed so many, and so much, but that is for a later time. I'm sure that there are others like me out there.
That small, cheap piece of kitschy metal in my pocket now serves me as a challenge...to work out harder, that I may remain strong and resilent against my enemies. To study well my technical manuals, that my skills do not degrade. To push my students to their limits in training, that they may survive, and carry on the fight. Whenever I tire, I look at the coin...and go on.
Myy first love was found on those Towers, that quarter-century ago. It was assaulted at that very site, among others.
Someday, when this all is over and those who did it and their friends are wiped from the Earth, I will return there. Not before then, though.
I would LOVE to do as my father did, and take a bright young Son or Daughter to that great city, and take them once again to the hights of the sky in "the Tallest Building In The World" to introduce them to their Country and their Birthright, as was done for me. Perhaps they too will fall deeply in love with it, as did I.
Rebuild. Make it BETTER. Make it a monument once again, not to the dead, not to PERSONS, but to a shining IDEAL.
/john
I couldn't agree more! God bless you.
And my Dad thought it would just be a fun day in NYC. Goes to show that YOU NEVER KNOW what your kids'll think of what you show them. Our heritage should be passed on so to ALL our children.
Ladies, maybe you best bring a box of kleenex.
Anyone ELSE have a story like this? Seems this would be a good thread to post it on.
RETURNED, SMARTLY!!!!!!!
I couldn't agree more. My 'puter screen got all watery when I read it. I wonder if the day will ever come when I don't shed tears when I think about that horrible day.
LC, this is beautifully written. I look forward to the day when you and the rest of our troops wipe the scum who were responsible from the face of the earth.
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