Remember the Maine! This one's even harder than the Alamo. The U.S.S. Maine exploded and sunk in the Havana harbor on February 15, 1898 during the Spanish American War. I vaguely remember learning about it at school, but the memory is so distant that I had to ask my husband if the Maine or the Alamo came first.
Remember Pearl Harbor! This one is much easier. Some of our parents and grandparents actually remember this event. There is film documentation of the actual attack. There have been countless movies made about the Day of Infamy that plunged the USA into World War II. Even so, the people who have clear first-hand memories of this event are few. World War II vets are dying at an average rate of 740 per day (in 2011). We remember Pearl Harbor... but barely.
We Will Never Forget! Maybe it's a good thing that the slogan changed for 9/11/2001. But the reality is that we will forget. It's been 11 years now. And even though every year I watch the 9/11 specials on National Geographic Channel, and Fox News Channel, and MSNBC, and others, I wonder how many other people are watching them. How many of us take a few hours to remember the heroics of United 93 passengers. To relive the horror of the second plane into the South Tower. The disbelief as first one, then the other tower fell to the ground. Gone... in an instant. The explosion and collapse at the Pentagon.
I wish we would never forget. But we will. That's the reality of life. The horrendous moments of our life lose their horror. The shock fades. The pain heals. We go on. But for today, let's make a pledge. A pledge that we will always remember we must never forget. For today, let's pause and thank God for the healing the nation has experienced this past 11 years. Pray for the families of those innocents who were the first casualties when the war on terror struck our homeland. Give thanks for the first responders who willingly put their lives on the line each and every day to protect us. For today let's remember.
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ReplyDeleteIt's hard to think there will be a time when I won't remember the confusion and surreal feeling I had on that morning going to college. Finding my programming class abandoned of students and the eerie quiet in a college lecture hall that was filled to capacity with students watching the news on a big screen. . . but I guess you are right, we will.
ReplyDeleteI remember that day so well and yet much of the disbelief and horror has faded for me. I will however (try to) remember those who have put their lives on the line to defend the freedoms I enjoy daily.
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