September 11 Remembrance

Tomorrow is September 11th. Of course this date has no significant meaning to the current post millennial generation, but to members of previous generations it is a day which will never be forgotten. It is interesting how certain events in history are forever etched in one's mind as well as the psyche of the nation as a whole. I know my own parents remember every personal detail of December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor which led to the United States' entry into World War II. In the same manor I can recall each and every defining moment of November 22, 1963... the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. To this very day I remember the exact moment I first heard our 35th President had been shot, praying with the entire school family gathered together in our Parish church, exiting the school bus and walking the remaining distance in the cold rain to the safety of my own home and my mother's welcoming arms. As a family we watched the continuing news reports on our black and white television. Quite unlike the 24/7 news coverage of the current day! I even remember being huddled around the TV set in our living room when Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the prime suspect in the murder of our President. Our country again faced the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 8, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Then once again on June 8th of the same year the U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the late President, was killed in Los Angeles, California. Time stood still and the aforementioned tragedies are forever ingrained in my memory. As the years moved forward we then watched and read in the local newspapers and national publications the horrors of the Vietnam War. However, there is not a single particular date relating to this conflict that stands out in my mind. And then so many years later, feeling carefree and enjoying life, it happened... the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. So many moments from that day are so deeply embedded in my mind, my heart, my soul... watching the Today Show from the comfort of my family room as the first and then second planes hit the World Trade Center Towers in New York City, then the moment of panic as I learned the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia had also been attacked, and finally the stunning revelation that Flight 93 carrying 40 brave passengers and crew had crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Remembering the innocence of life lost due to the careless ways and misunderstandings of our fellow man. Desperately seeking the day when all mankind will learn to live in peaceful coexistence.

We will never forget...