Five Years Later...
I can't help think of the alleged 'ancient Chinese curse' cited by J.F. Kennedy, "May you live in interesting times!" We indeed live in interesting and horrific times. September 11, 2001 will perhaps stand as the seminal historical moment of my life. The world certainly changed it's aspect to me on that day. I will never forget driving into work down George Washington Parkway and seeing a plume of thick black smoke issuing from the Pentagon and mobilized military personnel with assault rifles covering Washington National Airport. My first thought was that there had been a military coup, it was terrifying. I turned on the radio and the first thing I heard was "America is under attack!". Hearing those words was like being smacked in the face. I remember being completely disorientated; I simply could not conceive that this country could be under attack!
I will NEVER forget that morning, or hearing that first one tower of the WTC had collapsed and then the other. Seeing the devastation of the Pentagon burning, that only minutes before had received a direct hit from a weaponized commercial aircraft was something I could never have imagined I would ever experience. To be that close to such brutal and callous sacrifice of human life continues to bother me; even after five years. The horror of it is still very fresh. So fresh that I still can't bring myself to watch the TV footage of the attack, and the idea of watching a motion picture such as 'United 93' or 'World Trade Center' seems repugnant to me. How could anyone who lost family and friends in the attacks watch either of those films? It is far too soon for this to be made into a Hollywood story.
The prospect of the world entering a new Dark Age does not seem quite such the alarmist fantasy as it once did.
I will NEVER forget that morning, or hearing that first one tower of the WTC had collapsed and then the other. Seeing the devastation of the Pentagon burning, that only minutes before had received a direct hit from a weaponized commercial aircraft was something I could never have imagined I would ever experience. To be that close to such brutal and callous sacrifice of human life continues to bother me; even after five years. The horror of it is still very fresh. So fresh that I still can't bring myself to watch the TV footage of the attack, and the idea of watching a motion picture such as 'United 93' or 'World Trade Center' seems repugnant to me. How could anyone who lost family and friends in the attacks watch either of those films? It is far too soon for this to be made into a Hollywood story.
The prospect of the world entering a new Dark Age does not seem quite such the alarmist fantasy as it once did.