When I was a kid my Grandma Collins was my go to source for all thing history. I have always had a deep interest in history and my Grandma loved talking about the moments that she had witnesses. Chief among them were both the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor and the tragic assassination of President Kennedy. I remember her telling me time and time again about the moment that she heard about President Kennedy being gunned down in Dallas. While some of my Grandmother's memories were influenced by her imagination the details of November 22, 1963 were always the same. My mom was a year old and she was playing in the living room when the news came on the television.
I suppose that I was fascinated that my Grandmother had actually experienced these moments herself and not just in history books. She had actually experienced the moment that the country changed.
On September 11, 2001 I finally learned what it was like to experience a defining moment in history. I was 19 and I was attending class at Muskegon Community College and after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon classes were canceled for the day. I got into my car and turned on the radio. Every single channel was without music. Instead, it was all news and it was then that I understood the enormity of the moment.
Since then I wondered what I would tell my grandchildren about that day and the years that followed. The day is easier. I could tell them in great detail about how I spent that day talking on the phone with my friend Tom or how I called my dad at work. I could tell them about how I watched the towers falls while standing in my mom's office and it was the first time that I ever heard somebody say the word "fuck" on network television. I could tell them that it was the first time that I ever looked up into the sky above my small town and didn't see one airplane flying through it. I could tell them about how I spent hours watching TV that day just trying to take it all in. Or how my sister, Megan rushed over to a blood drive to donate blood.
The following years aren't going to be as easy. I don't want to get into politics on this blog because as I mentioned before the 140 characters afforded me on Twitter are more than enough for my opinion. Still, for the last nine years of my adult this moment has dominated the cultural landscape from politics around me to the art that I enjoy.
I suppose that I will be honest with my grandchildren. I will tell them that in the years that followed 9/11 I became very ashamed of my country. I will tell them about the details of the wars that left a stain on the conscience of the country.
Why will I tell them all of this? Because it is important. Far too often we like to sort of whitewash history. When we hear stories about World War II they are always stories about valor and sacrifice. Those stories deserve to be told because ordinary men and women did extraordinary things in order to defeat great opposition. However, how often do we hear about the Japanese Internment camps that our very own citizens were forced into because of the fear that they might be spies?
I'm considered to be pretty liberal among my friends. I feel like the perception is that liberals aren't very Patriotic. I strongly disagree. I consider myself to be very patriotic and idealistic. I hold that the Constitution is one of the most important man made documents and that it should be defended by those who would threaten it.
So, I will tell my grandchildren that after those towers fell, after the Pentagon was sent on fire, and after ordinary Americans aboard United 93 gave their lives to protect others, that I would honor those who lost their live by upholding the principles that define this country. That some of the decisions that were made by my leaders after 9/11 challenged those ideals but certain people would not give up on them.
Anyway, going back to that day, I suppose what I will most want to impress upon them is that while some caused great evil it was met with great good. I will tell them about how as the Trade Towers burned and destruction was everywhere brave men and women of the NYFD and NYPD rushed into danger to save the lives of others. I will tell them that they sacrificed their lives so that others may live. I will tell them that while a small amount of hateful men chose to cause death on that day many more chose to preserve life by giving their own.
I will tell them that I never forgot those who gave their lives for others.
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