September 11, 2001 NEVER FORGET. And In My Case, Never Forgive

Some 60 years later, I still consider Germans "Nazis."  

From some past columns:

2012

My thoughts today go to the survivors.  The dead are gone, there is nothing we can do about that.

It's the living that should be in our thoughts.  The mother of a child who never came home again.  The wives of firefighters and policemen who vanished.  Literally.  The father whose pretty little daughter was working her first job after college.  

Everyday people thrust irrevocably into a holocaust of tumbling pieces of massive buildings, blinding smoke, destruction and death.  I cannot imagine what the remembrances done on this day are doing to them.  They will never forget, ; neither should we nor history either. 

2014

We were visiting Long Island, NY, for a family wedding.  It was a doozy and afterwards, we and Richie's brother and his wife went out to Montauk for a couple of days to recover.  Tuesday morning, at breakfast I noticed a group of guests gathered around the big TV staring intently at it.  I wandered over to see what was so interesting. 

I returned to our table and answered the question in their eyes by reporting, "Some idiot flew a small plane into the World Trade Center."    

Vignettes:  At the pool, an older woman laughed  to me, "My son is a cop and he got assigned moving the cars in the underground parking garage.   His back is going to kill him!"  Another remarked confidently that her husband is a nurse, but because today is their 15th wedding anniversary, "He can just call in tomorrow." 

By mid-afternoon, flags fluttered from the balcony railings in front of nearly every room.  Michael's craft store was sold out.

The empty sky was a clear, brilliant blue despite the fact that Montauk is on the flight path for JFK.  Silence and stillness ruled the air. 

St. Patrick's Catholic church's front door had a list of known dead parishioner - 12 - and the next day that number was 18.

At breakfast at a diner, the man in the next booth; back to us, was recounting his escape from one of the towers to two women facing us.  He was speaking as if he was in a trance; their faces were horrified.  I  looked down at the table top.

It took us three years to be able to visit The Hole.  Despite cranes and other bright yellow mechanical things crawling around far below, there was a deep sadness still permeating the site.

2016

And now some probably well-meaning idiot got up a group to create the 911 Memorial and Museum to be located on the site.  It did open and it does offend me that anyone would pay money to visit burned up firetrucks, personal items of the doomed passengers and charred twisted steel.  

I understand that it may well be of great interest to foreign visitors.  But I think that for us, American citizens, who actually lived this event it would be a case of paying through the nose for deja vu. 

2018

Now, 17 years later, memorials continue to be made, the latest being the bell tower in Pennsylvania which is worthy of positive mention.  The dead were individuals and they deserve their mention as such.

.2019     God bless the first responders who continue to die even now.

COMMENTS
From Cape Coral, FL - I have not visited the area as of yet.  I would not go to the Museum.  I agree with Word of Mouth on that.