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Subject:  Nearly a year since September 11 |
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Author: Bill Magdziarz-Rainey |
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Date Posted: 05:25:04 09/06/02 Fri On the morning of September 11 2001, I was at already at work. A co-worker exclaimed from the cube next to mine that an airplane had just hit the World Trade Center and we all tried immediately logging our PC’s to the internet news sites (like CNN, ABC…). It was obvious the rest of the country was trying frantically to do the same as none of us could connect. Eventually someone did and we were all crowding near to see what had happened. Meanwhile, in our PC training room someone else had turned on the TV. I remember watching the second plane hit the second tower. By now more people were arriving to work and we moved the TV to the cafeteria. We had approximately 50 people watching in near silence. Then everything else unfolded as we all know. This was all too reminiscent from back in February 1993. I was working for Musicland’s headquarters in Minneapolis. I had been on the phone assisting the Musicland store inside the World Trade Center when the bomb went off in the underground parking area. The store never lost phone service and you could tell at first no body knew what had happened. It was too familiar a feeling on September 11, when I was able to see it unfold on the TV. On September 11, the daycare my son goes to was closed. He was staying with a neighbor who has a son about the same age as Nathan. Once I got off from work, I stopped at a local hardware store and picked up four American flags. When I picked up Nathan I asked him to give one to the neighbor lady who had taken care of him that day. We took two other flags to our other neighbors next door and across the street. Once back home I immediately put ours up. Only this week did I replace it with a new one. While at the hardware store I also picked up a couple of multi-packs of blank VHS tapes. I began recording the constant news coverage on the 8 hour video tapes. With Nathan being only 3.5 years old I wanted to be able to show him what exactly was happening as it unfolded (if he’s ever interested when he gets older). I’m skeptical and fear that after only a few years the revisionist history writers will be teaching in our schools that the attack was far less horrific than it really was, and that somehow America will be made to be at fault for the attack. Months before September 11, my wife Sandy and I had scheduled a family trip to Vancouver Canada. Our tickets had been purchased for a flight on September 12. After much turmoil about if we should try to go or not the decision eventually was made for us when all flights were grounded and the US borders were closed for the few days after the attack. We eventually rescheduled the trip for four weeks later, but the trip, and especially the flights were fairly anxious events. I have been actively involved with several charities over the last five or so years. In the last two years I have been more involved with political issues as well. Since September 11, I have stepped up that pace even more. On January 29, 2002 President Bush, in his State of the Union Address said the following, “ My call tonight is for every American to commit at least two years – 4000 hours over the rest of your lifetime – to the service of your neighbors and your nation. ” I issue that challenge to each of you. It isn’t hard. It can be as easy as merely mowing a neighbor’s yard, getting involved with a charity (there are ton’s of them), or getting involved politically. Just next week I’m volunteering as an election judge for the city during the primary election and again in November for the General election. We, as American’s, cannot sit back and become complacent (again) and let the events of the world around us continue unabated. This truly is a time of war where good must triumph over evil. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |