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September 11th
Sep. 11th, 2003 09:37 amOk, so I'm not going to only talk about this today, and I notice that some other people have dedicated entries to this today, too. Which is good, I think.
My Mom and I had lunch the other day, and we saw this car as we were leaving with two American flags waving from either window. My Mom says: "Now why do they have flags on their car? I mean, sure, when September 11th happened, everyone had flags all over the place, but it's been two years."
My reply was something like "Yeah, it has, but we're also only two days away from the anniversary."
My Mom: "Oh, that's right."
Now, my feeling is this:
Why is it that we only remember to display our patriotism and pride in being Americans on the anniversary of a tragedy that shook our nation? It was nice to see the American people unite after September 11th, waving flags from cars, homes, on their desks at work, etc.; donating what they could afford to help the families of those killed in the attack; supporting our government's retaliation to the attack. (I am not turning this entry into either a pro/con war entry, so please don’t take it that way.)
The point is, I have to wonder, as aliasrlm stated in her entry today, why is it suddenly "uncool" to remember over 3,000 civilians being killed in a full out attack on our country? This was not a troop of marines that fell in combat. And I do not understand this propensity people have for forgetting. I understand that it's important to move on, to pick up and keep going. But the things I hear people say sometimes absolutely appall me. Thoughtless statements that seem to completely disregard the attack on September 11th, and any future attacks that might be forthcoming. Or even worse, in my latest example, I actually heard a rather extremist anti-war person say “If we do get attacked, we deserve it. We shouldn’t be in Iraq.”
Excuse me? WTF kind of attitude is that? I don’t give a f*** if you agree with the war or not, but to say that we deserve to have more of our civilians killed in an attack on our nation is the most anti-American, ludicrous statement I’ve ever heard. Maybe this person would feel differently if it had been their family who had died on September 11th. But that shouldn’t matter. Absolutely should not frelling matter. Maybe we shouldn’t be in Iraq. Maybe we should. Either way, we should not for one second EVER forget what happened on 9/11/2001. Ever. It was the first direct attack on our nation since Pearl Harbor, and that, to give the Japanese credit, was an attack on a military target.
And how angry did the entire American people get? How soon did they lose that anger? Did they ever? Did you know that when you fly into Hawaii, you can see the shadow of the Arizona beneath the water? People don’t say stupid shit like “Oh, that was [insert number] years ago. Let’s move on already.” about Pearl Harbor. But they say it about 9/11.
I guess I’m pretty angry about this. About people that confuse anti-war sentiments with forgetting 9/11 ever happened. I’ve got some close personal friends who are extremely, extremely anti-war, and you know what? They still get sad and sober and angry whenever mention of 9/11 is made. They don’t say shit like “We deserve to get attacked.” My attitude towards those that do is so angry that it’s best I’m not around them. Cause you know what? If you have that little love for your country, that little care for the people that died that day, then get the f*** out. Go live somewhere else.
I understand being anti-war. I’m not even saying I support it. But what I am in support of is my nation, the people who live in it with me, the people who died for it and continue to die for it, every single day.
End of rant.
My Mom and I had lunch the other day, and we saw this car as we were leaving with two American flags waving from either window. My Mom says: "Now why do they have flags on their car? I mean, sure, when September 11th happened, everyone had flags all over the place, but it's been two years."
My reply was something like "Yeah, it has, but we're also only two days away from the anniversary."
My Mom: "Oh, that's right."
Now, my feeling is this:
Why is it that we only remember to display our patriotism and pride in being Americans on the anniversary of a tragedy that shook our nation? It was nice to see the American people unite after September 11th, waving flags from cars, homes, on their desks at work, etc.; donating what they could afford to help the families of those killed in the attack; supporting our government's retaliation to the attack. (I am not turning this entry into either a pro/con war entry, so please don’t take it that way.)
The point is, I have to wonder, as aliasrlm stated in her entry today, why is it suddenly "uncool" to remember over 3,000 civilians being killed in a full out attack on our country? This was not a troop of marines that fell in combat. And I do not understand this propensity people have for forgetting. I understand that it's important to move on, to pick up and keep going. But the things I hear people say sometimes absolutely appall me. Thoughtless statements that seem to completely disregard the attack on September 11th, and any future attacks that might be forthcoming. Or even worse, in my latest example, I actually heard a rather extremist anti-war person say “If we do get attacked, we deserve it. We shouldn’t be in Iraq.”
Excuse me? WTF kind of attitude is that? I don’t give a f*** if you agree with the war or not, but to say that we deserve to have more of our civilians killed in an attack on our nation is the most anti-American, ludicrous statement I’ve ever heard. Maybe this person would feel differently if it had been their family who had died on September 11th. But that shouldn’t matter. Absolutely should not frelling matter. Maybe we shouldn’t be in Iraq. Maybe we should. Either way, we should not for one second EVER forget what happened on 9/11/2001. Ever. It was the first direct attack on our nation since Pearl Harbor, and that, to give the Japanese credit, was an attack on a military target.
And how angry did the entire American people get? How soon did they lose that anger? Did they ever? Did you know that when you fly into Hawaii, you can see the shadow of the Arizona beneath the water? People don’t say stupid shit like “Oh, that was [insert number] years ago. Let’s move on already.” about Pearl Harbor. But they say it about 9/11.
I guess I’m pretty angry about this. About people that confuse anti-war sentiments with forgetting 9/11 ever happened. I’ve got some close personal friends who are extremely, extremely anti-war, and you know what? They still get sad and sober and angry whenever mention of 9/11 is made. They don’t say shit like “We deserve to get attacked.” My attitude towards those that do is so angry that it’s best I’m not around them. Cause you know what? If you have that little love for your country, that little care for the people that died that day, then get the f*** out. Go live somewhere else.
I understand being anti-war. I’m not even saying I support it. But what I am in support of is my nation, the people who live in it with me, the people who died for it and continue to die for it, every single day.
End of rant.
