"But what about the victims?" - Thoughts from the Park Ridge 9/11 Ceremony
Last Friday morning, I was in Park Ridge, a suburb just outside Chicago's northwest city limits, covering the ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for the Niles Bugle.
A year earlier, the city unveiled a 9/11 memorial. Its centerpiece was a beam from the ruins of the World Trade Center, and it was meant to be as a place to reflect on the tragedy and honor the victims and the survivors.
But what struck me about this year's ceremony was that, with one exception, every single speaker devoted a bulk of their speech to talking about first-responders - the police officers, the firefighters and the paramedics.
An honor guard of Park Ridge police officers and firefighters takes positions around the city's 9/11 memorial
It's not that they didn't talk about the civilian victims at all. It's just that they said a sentence or two about them - and then devoted the bulk of their speech to first-responders, talking not just about the ones who were on duty at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but all of the first-responders past and present.
The one exception to this was Maine South High School freshman Laura Pomilia, who devoted a bulk of her speech to the victims. She talked about how much a visit to the 9/11 museum built on the World Trade Center site touched her, especially the photos of people jumping out of the building. Even though she wasn't even alive when the attacks happened, she got that for the families of the victims, the wounds were still fresh, and that meant something.
It's not that there is anything wrong with praising first-responders, or even to draw a parallel between the ones that went into action on September 11 and the ones serving Park Ridge and other communities today. And one can say that, given that the event was organized by Park Ridge police chaplains, a certain emphasis on first-responders was to be expected. But I feel like it was more balanced last year. The speakers mourned the victims and praised the first responders, and it didn't feel like one was taking away from the other.
As someone who grew up in what was once known as Leningrad, someone who was raised on the stories told by the survivors of the Siege of Leningrad, I feel that any Victory Day celebration must, first and foremost, focus on all the people who suffered and died during what my people call the Great Patriotic War. The war was a tragedy, one where people put their lives on the line to defend their homeland, but also one where people were driven to desperation by hunger and death. Millions of people lived to see it end, but millions of people didn't. The toast of "вечная память" (roughly "may their memories live on forever") embodies what the occasion is about. The people who died during the war are not there to speak for themselves, and, as the time ruthlessly marches on, fewer and fewer survivors are there to speak for themselves - but the memories must endure. The truth must endure.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks weren't nearly as tragic, or as devastating, but as I see it, the principle is the same. It should be, first and foremost, be about the victims and survivors. What I saw at Park Ridge felt more of a rally in support of the city's first-responders then a tribute to the lives lost.
On the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, my mom told me that it probably won't be like this. Give it 10, 15 years and it will just be another day - the way the anniversary of the Kremlin Coup gradually faded in significance. Or, for that matter, the way most Americans probably won't be able to remember when the Pearl Harbor bombing happened atop of their head - something that would've seemed inconceivable during World War II.
It hasn't quite happened yet. Sure, it feels like less of a big deal than it was during the first few years after the attacks, but there are still ceremonies all over the country, and a lot of people still pause to remember the victims. But now, I wonder if what I saw in Park Ridge was a sign of things to come. That, as more time passes and the attacks fade from the living memories and into history, it will become more of a general Honoring the First Responders Day.
I don't want to make too much out of something that happened in just one small city. You need at least two more examples to establish the pattern, and even then, it wouldn't be a widespread phenomenon. But i still can't help but wonder.
A year earlier, the city unveiled a 9/11 memorial. Its centerpiece was a beam from the ruins of the World Trade Center, and it was meant to be as a place to reflect on the tragedy and honor the victims and the survivors.
But what struck me about this year's ceremony was that, with one exception, every single speaker devoted a bulk of their speech to talking about first-responders - the police officers, the firefighters and the paramedics.
An honor guard of Park Ridge police officers and firefighters takes positions around the city's 9/11 memorial
It's not that they didn't talk about the civilian victims at all. It's just that they said a sentence or two about them - and then devoted the bulk of their speech to first-responders, talking not just about the ones who were on duty at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but all of the first-responders past and present.
The one exception to this was Maine South High School freshman Laura Pomilia, who devoted a bulk of her speech to the victims. She talked about how much a visit to the 9/11 museum built on the World Trade Center site touched her, especially the photos of people jumping out of the building. Even though she wasn't even alive when the attacks happened, she got that for the families of the victims, the wounds were still fresh, and that meant something.
It's not that there is anything wrong with praising first-responders, or even to draw a parallel between the ones that went into action on September 11 and the ones serving Park Ridge and other communities today. And one can say that, given that the event was organized by Park Ridge police chaplains, a certain emphasis on first-responders was to be expected. But I feel like it was more balanced last year. The speakers mourned the victims and praised the first responders, and it didn't feel like one was taking away from the other.
As someone who grew up in what was once known as Leningrad, someone who was raised on the stories told by the survivors of the Siege of Leningrad, I feel that any Victory Day celebration must, first and foremost, focus on all the people who suffered and died during what my people call the Great Patriotic War. The war was a tragedy, one where people put their lives on the line to defend their homeland, but also one where people were driven to desperation by hunger and death. Millions of people lived to see it end, but millions of people didn't. The toast of "вечная память" (roughly "may their memories live on forever") embodies what the occasion is about. The people who died during the war are not there to speak for themselves, and, as the time ruthlessly marches on, fewer and fewer survivors are there to speak for themselves - but the memories must endure. The truth must endure.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks weren't nearly as tragic, or as devastating, but as I see it, the principle is the same. It should be, first and foremost, be about the victims and survivors. What I saw at Park Ridge felt more of a rally in support of the city's first-responders then a tribute to the lives lost.
On the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, my mom told me that it probably won't be like this. Give it 10, 15 years and it will just be another day - the way the anniversary of the Kremlin Coup gradually faded in significance. Or, for that matter, the way most Americans probably won't be able to remember when the Pearl Harbor bombing happened atop of their head - something that would've seemed inconceivable during World War II.
It hasn't quite happened yet. Sure, it feels like less of a big deal than it was during the first few years after the attacks, but there are still ceremonies all over the country, and a lot of people still pause to remember the victims. But now, I wonder if what I saw in Park Ridge was a sign of things to come. That, as more time passes and the attacks fade from the living memories and into history, it will become more of a general Honoring the First Responders Day.
I don't want to make too much out of something that happened in just one small city. You need at least two more examples to establish the pattern, and even then, it wouldn't be a widespread phenomenon. But i still can't help but wonder.