That's not a song lyric. It's a quote from a firefighter in Ladder Company 1 that was the first fire company into tower 1 of the World Trade Center.
I watched a documentary last night, filmed by two French brothers, about Ladder Company 1 and their experiences of that day 5 years ago. They had been following a new firefighter during the summer, and one of them was with the crew on the morning of September 11th when they saw the first plane hit tower 1.
There was very little political commentary that went along with the documentary, which gave it great power. The details of the horror that these men experienced...hearing the sounds of the bodies of jumpers landing on the lobby and in the street outside, the images of people covered in soot walking dazed through the street, the absolute silence in the street after the second tower fell. And the aftermath - the sense of survivor's guilt that riddled the lives of these men who were left to clean up "the pile" knowing that they wouldn't find anyone alive.
Watching the documentary, I remembered my own horror...I was getting ready for work and had turned on the Today show for a few minutes. As I was in California, it had all already happened. So in a matter of a few minutes, I watched the towers burning, then collapsing. I went to work, not really knowing what I would do that day. I thought I would give comfort to my patients, but I found that I didn't have the capacity for it on that day. And the worst...the worst is that dialysis centers have televisions to keep their patients entertained. And they played all day for the next week, the same images over and over. I couldn't even get away from them at work. I felt completely helpless.
I thought about providing political commentary here. But you all know how I feel about the current administration, the wars, etc. Today, it feels important to honor something different - to honor the dead and our own memories of the grief that followed.
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2 comments:
I agree, Spin. It's very apprpriate to leave politics out of it so we can honor the memory of those who died.
They're all heroes.
I had slept in that day and gone straight to a hair appointment without watching/listening to the news. So I learned of the attacks a few hours after they occurred, and I've always felt guilty that I was doing something so frivolous both when the planes went down and when I heard the news. Silly, I know, but it's how I feel.
I, too, prefer to simply remember and honor those who died that day. Your thoughts were expressed beautifully.
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