Online, it's pretty easy to find the news footage from The Day America Was Attacked. I downloaded a whole folder of it into my computer and every so often, triggered by nothing in particular, I watch a half-hour or so of it, just to remind myself.
Well, not just for that. I have a good enough memory that I'm not about to forget. Truth to tell, I'm not sure why I watch it but a good guess is that I want to check and make sure it still horrifies me. Another is that it gives me perspective. We're always hearing that some bad thing that happens is the worst thing that's ever happened and it helps to remember one that really and truly was worse.
I don't want to just talk about myself here because that's too…well, presidential. Besides, you have a story about how you felt that day and mine is no more important than yours. I sometimes feel like America is afraid to confront how much damage was done to it that day and how the aftershocks continue. Were it not for those planes flying into those buildings, would we currently have as much anger in this country and so many divisions?
I'm going to embed a video here. It's the group Voctave singing the Star-Spangled Banner…and I agree with those who say it was a poor choice for our National Anthem. It's too much about war. It's too hard for the average American to sing. It attaches too much importance to a piece of cloth and not nearly enough to the spirit of those who salute it. And yet, it carries with it so much history and it has a way of feeling very, very appropriate at times. I can't sing this thing. You probably can't sing this thing. But folks with great voices sure can make it work…