9/11 - Never Forget


We must take care to not forget the horror of September 11th, but we must also not forget the great heroism in the response

Last year, I put up this post on 9/11 to remind us, and especially myself, just how awful September 11th was. I strongly recommend re-reading it, and following the links to see the video again. It was a brutal and horrific experience and very difficult to go through again, but we have to remember it if we want to prevent it from happening again.

But I wanted to look at something different today and something thats become very clear over the last few weeks. There is a great bright side to 9/11 - the response of the brave people of New York. With the darkness that descended following hurricane Katrina, we can see clearer the light of the actions that followed September 11th. Perhaps I listened to closely to the brave firemen and policemen who said they were just doing their job when they rushed into burning towers to save their fellow men. Maybe part of me had forgotten how difficult it must have been for them to risk their lives in the midst of complete shock and chaos. Whatever the case, their bravery immediately came to mind when I saw stories of the police looting in New Orleans (h/t VodkaPundit).

I'm sure we will hear more eventually out of New Orleans (like this story) that will be heartwarming and comforting, but immediately we heard stories from 9/11. No one complained to about the government, especially NY city and Rudy Giuliani's office, taking too long to respond or being ill prepared. Remember this was completely unprecedented, the largest terrorist attack on American soil... ever; and yet, our nation and especially NY rose to the task of rescuing as many as possible and securing order. Contrast that with the hurricane, which not only came with a warning, but had been foretold last year by an extremely near miss with Ivan.

My point is not to point out how bad things with Katrina were, but simply how great they were on 9/11. When we remember the horror of 9/11, let's not forget the heroism and strength shown that day. I have never heard of anyone looting in NY after 9/11 - I'm sure NYers would be baffled at the idea; the solidarity they showed after the attack would rule out the selfishness and greed of looting. I have never heard of any acts of disgrace by NYPD or NYFD - quite the contrary it seems as though almost every person in both acted heroically.

I hope and pray we never forget the horror or the heroism of 9/11.

Posted: Sun - September 11, 2005 at 10:11 AM | | | | | | |

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