Posted on 09/13/2002 9:03:37 PM PDT by Utah Girl
Count me among those who planned not to watch the Sept. 11 remembrances. There had been plenty of teary interviews prior to the anniversary, and it seemed safe to assume a day-long teddy hug awaited us. The clicker has nearly learned to switch channels without prompting when televised tears flow. It has had a year of rigorous training.
As for many others, however, it was the reading of the names that was the hooker, plus that now-legendary wind, which kicked in at 8:46, as legend has it. It was a haunting combination: the naming of the dead as powerful gusts swept the dirt where the big buildings once stood, blasting dust and molecules of the dead — victims and their murderers — high into the blazing blue sky.
The organizers were upstaged. They booked top talent to play solemn music as the names were read — string musicians, as opposed to the brass blowers oom-pahing their way through "God Bless America" down in Washington. The performances were very evocative, and we were once again reassured there are no tubas in heaven, but many a violin. Yet these magnificent works of man seemed puny in comparison to the wind itself.
There was wind in Washington as well, and it seems to have blown loose part of the canopy over the speaker's platform. The grommets banged against the pipe work, and when the president was speaking it sounded like cutlery banging on plates.
The reading of the death list did go on, and on, but it was hard to get up and leave. The vast array of last names reminded us that they didn't call it the World Trade Center for nothing, and there's a sense of pride there. Bin Laden slaughtered a wide selection of humanity. He also killed a lot of women. So many of the stories on Tower victims featured firemen and police officers that one could almost forget there were many female victims as well. There is also a reflexive assumption, at least among some of us, that the victims of military assaults are men. Hearing the names of all those slaughtered women touched a very primal nerve.
So did the pictures of the attack, though the strongest reaction did not follow footage of the airliners hitting the buildings. There tends to be something horribly spectacular and awe-inspiring about large explosions, even those causing massive human suffering. So it goes with the mushroom clouds that ended the war in the Pacific (which, to be sure, were part of a declared war against an aggressor). Such is also true of the 9/11 blasts, especially when the second plane strikes its target. The most-powerful pictures, for me at least, were of those who jumped into the void to avoid a fiery death. Lucianne Goldberg's site, I believe it was, ran a picture of someone going headfirst toward the sidewalk. If we're looking for a declaration of war sans words, that picture will do the trick.
The mawk impulse was under fairly tight wraps throughout the day, though the same wasn't true of the yack impulse. Peter Jennings seems especially fond of his own voice. Many of us have the same problem, to be sure, though we tend to be our sole audience. Broadcast anchors drone before millions. On the bright side, Brother Pete did remind us that gravitas cannot be faked.
Meantime the networks did excellent stories on the steps the government took to ensure its survival. The assumption that the aggressors hoped to "decapitate" America's leadership seems reasonable enough, as did the order to shoot down Flight 93, then barreling toward the capital. The possibility that the pilots of two unarmed military jets (on a training mission near 93's flight path) might be ordered to ram the jetliner was a cause for pause. Imagine being on the receiving end of that order. In the spirit of the day it was easy to assume the response would have been a crisp: Will do.
Special care was taken to show that the president really wanted to return to Washington early in the day but was dissuaded, at least initially, by the vice president and the secret service. Our other elected representatives proved they can hotfoot it our of the Capitol when necessary, which is a skill that may come in handy sometime down the road. Then again you do begin to wonder about that other shoe. What a perfect day it would have been for a big strike. One hates to be too optimistic, of course. So, let's not be.
There were other great moments. Cameras cut away to Yankee Stadium, where Elvis sang the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (a recording, of course). Perhaps Elvis's biggest fan, the former president, will be inspired to pick up a rifle and head for the front. Then there was a terrific instance of off-the-cuff eloquence during NBC's broadcast of the "Concert from America," when an unnamed young woman spoke of how the terrible events collectively seared the nation's soul. This point has been made countless times, usually by saying something like "these terrible events have touched us all deeply and brought unity to this diverse land," etc. The babe was better: September 11, she said, was the day we all got the same tattoo. When, later that night, the New York lottery came up 911, it was easy to respond: Yep. A hard day it was, but also an American Day.
Once I was off work, I was glued to the TV. It wasn't that I wanted to be, but that I needed to be. I wanted very much to be here with my FR family, but I had to be away so it was the only way I had of "being there." Through all the images and stories and ceremonies, I was moved to tears many times throughout the day and evening. Our wounds are deep but our faith is strong. I am reminded of the scripture that says that "power is perfected in weakness...when I am weak, then I am strong."(1 Corin. 9-10) Never before has our country been so weak and vulnerable and never before have we had such an opportunity to rise up in great strength. I hope we take it.
Oh?
(Pardon me, but I just hate Peter Jennings. )
I didn't watch to much of the 9-11 ceremonies, but I would say this.
I see the images in a certain context. People jumping to their deaths, planes crashing into buildings, there is a strong tendency to absorb a certain defeatist attitude viewing these things.
I'll take them as a reminder of what we are fighting against, not what they might do to us.
Not going to happen that way, though.
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