No words necessary.Except perhaps thanks to the hardy half-dozen or more who joined me in town center to mark the 106 or so momentous minutes, and thanks to the many many dozens who beeped their horns, raised their thumbs, waved or pulled over to say "thank you."
Of course it was indeed fitting that the last few moments of the AFD ceremony was interrupted by a call for help--and off they went, just as 343 of their compatriots did eight years ago today.
Thank you Larry. It was an honor to stand in the center of town today in memory of those who died 8 years ago today. I might not have known any of them, but they deserve to be remembered.
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining me Helen.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's hope next year the town makes the effort and flies the 29 Commemorative flags to help remind/remember.
Good job Larry.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony,
ReplyDeleteSome things you just simply sit back and record--just capture the moment.
Your persistence in trying to attach patriotism to the many elements of this complex tragedy is what I find objectionable.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, firefighters and police risked their safety and lives to help others, it's true.
But it's equally true that 3000 people died and buildings were destroyed and I don't see any reason to attach patriotism to these parts of this tragedy. And these parts were fundamental to the rest.
The August 8 PDB is also a part of this tragedy and I won't support glorifying how it was handled. The Iraq War is a part of this, not for any substantive reason apparently but not for lack of trying to associate 9/11 and Saddam and raising the specter of mushroom clouds as smoking guns. In that case, patriotism was cynically abused by our elected leader's White House Iraq Group. My friend died in Iraq in November right after Andy Card and his WHIG rolled out the new product, shock and awe.
So maybe now you can understand why your insistence on wrapping this day in 29 patriotic flag is problematic for others who see a bigger and more complex series of events.
What say you from your perspective? What's your best argument for insisting on inserting the flag and the patriotism it represents into this tragedy?
In earnest,
Anon 550
Because they ALL died simply because they were Americans. That is what those 29 AMERICAN flags represent.
ReplyDeleteGood thing I wasn't President or I'd have nuked Afghanistan. And I'd have been pretty unpopular for a while. But who else would have tried that again?
ReplyDeleteNot every town has flagphobia.
ReplyDeleteLongboat pays tribute to Sept. 11
September 11, 2009
Each year on the night of Sept. 10, members of the Longboat Key Public Works Department line Gulf of Mexico Drive with 2,974 flags, one for each victim who died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
That's nuts! Where, when and whom exactly in Afghanistan would you have nuked? Why not Florida?
ReplyDeleteMr. Anon appears to be from some alternate universe in which commemorating an attack on your nation is somehow divorced from patriotism.
ReplyDelete5-5-5-5
ReplyDelete