I've been thinking a lot since this weekend about various things concerning 9-11.... the images and tears have been renewed and a wound has been reopened.
The police departments, fire departments, port authority.... putting others before themselves. Heroes? Certainly. But one thing that always nags at me is they were doing their job. They had trained long and hard to deal with every imaginable event to help and protect civilians. Not to diminish their accomplishments at all, oh no! I think they did a phenomenal job. And so very many gave their lives.
But the passengers of Flight 93 are, to me, by far much greater heroes. "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:12-13 Friends and loved ones yes.... but mostly total strangers.
And now this....... is amazing.
How is it that it took ten years for us to learn of the bravery of ordinary-men-turned-heroes?
Did you catch that? One radio call ... that's all it took. Real live heroes, people! They responded by the hundreds. For hours. May God bless them.Once again, my faith in mankind has been restored. How about you?
Wow, Lori, that was great!! I've never even thought how people got off and never seen anything til today!
ReplyDelete(cried through the whole thing)
A friend of ours from our parish was the college roommate of Tom Burnett. He spoke during the memorial on Sunday about how Tom felt inspired, during the months leading up to the 9/11 attacks, to attend daily Mass. He told his wife that God was calling him to something great--something in Washington DC--but he didn't know what.
ReplyDeleteNow we know what that something great was, and that God was preparing him to be strong in the face of evil.
(I'm going to save watching the video for another break from our lessons. :)
(Also, thank you for your sweet comment last night. Wish we were closer.)
Jamie - I know! I wonder how could we have thought about it... The other images were all we'd seen. I never took the time to rationalize trying to get off the Island. (I've cried every time I watched it.)
ReplyDeleteMargaret - Simply amazing about Tom.
p.s. Have tissues handy. :-)
I'm so glad you verbalized what I have felt for a long time. Yes, it's horrible that so many people were killed, including firefighters and police officers. But it is their job. They are going in with their eyes wide open. The same goes for soldiers. I still think they are all amazing, but I've always felt that the passengers of Flight 93 were the true heroes of the day.
ReplyDeleteGoosebumps. Over and over.
ReplyDeletePaula-Yes, absolutely military too. My husband is career military. When he served in Desert Shield & Storm, he came home to being called a hero. He repeated over and over, "I just did my job. I am not a hero."
ReplyDeleteTracy-And over again.
That video is too incredible for words. Over 500,000 people evacuated in fewer than nine hours. That blows my mind.
ReplyDeleteKate-really! (thanks for popping in!!)
ReplyDelete