Memories of 9/11 - How Far We Have Not Come

Today I read a firsthand account of an online friend about her experiences on September 11, 2001 in Manhattan. She had done an amazing job of it. So many horrifying sights and thoughts and feelings are hard to collect and arrange in a coherent manner. It was very elegantly done. http://tinyurl.com/238gmxr

I have tried a couple of times to write about my own memories of that day – without much success. My experience was quite different from hers, but nonetheless memorable for me.

I was hundreds of miles away and an active duty member of the US Navy. I was literally 'in uniform' when I saw the video of the first plane hurtling into one of the towers, and then saw 'live' the second plane as it crashed into the other tower. My feelings were ten feet tall and a hundred fold. But the most dominant of these was a profound feeling of obligation to protect the people of my country and an immense frustration with the fact that I (we) were completely unable to do so. We could neither stop the attack nor aid those suffering. We could only be spectators.

Over the coming weeks, months, and years that frustration matured and ripened into something I can't really describe. I can only say that it festers in my heart and does me no good there. We have seen our generation's Pearl Harbor. But we had no 'nation' to declare war on. Sure, we have sent thousands of men and women into battle ‘over there’ in some bizarre and vain attempt to strike back at those who have injured us so grievously – and in the process turned two sovereign nations upside down and inside out. But it was neither correct nor effective. One nut job and a few dozen of his followers are the people responsible for this whole mess. And we have hardly touched them. Thousands of US and allied forces soldiers, along with thousands of Iraqi and Afghani citizens, have died in this ‘war on terrorism’ and we still haven’t routed out the parties actually responsible for it all.

And now, for too many people, “the enemy” has become a diffused and indeterminate entity known as “the Muslims”. Meanwhile freedom of speech and religion are under attack in a nation that was founded on these very principles as we hurl epithets at each other over where to build a community center and whether or not to burn religious texts. Is this justice for those who perished on September 11, 2001? I wouldn’t say so. Whether I lack imagination or hope, I couldn’t say. But the sad truth is that I don’t foresee that they ever will have justice.

The only bright spot I see in the whole mess is that this nation has apparently grown a bit since WW II. At least this time around, we haven’t rounded up all the American Muslims into internment camps. Not yet, anyway.

Photo by David Karp can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/24htd2b