Four years have gone by since that tragic day that brought fear to every American. The West coast woke up to "hollywood type news" while the east coast lived it that fatal morning.
I can remember where I was exactly when I heard that a plane was hijacked, and then several more. I was just arriving at my work. Then the reports came in that more planes were involved.
And then rumours that one of the planes was actually in the airspace above us in Cleveland. (Flight 93 circled over Cleveland) I debated whether to leave work and get my children whose school was less than a quarter of a mile from the airport. The rumors circulated that they had one plane grounded at Hopkins that may of been part of the plot. No one was sure of anything.
And then when the first plane hit the WTC around 9 there was panic. We pulled out a TV and 300 people in our building stood there in shock and horror as they watch the second plane crash into the building and New York on fire. At that point I remember they shut down Downtown Cleveland. We were told we could leave and get our children if we felt the need.
I remember how helpless I felt. I remember the fear. I remember President Bush was in Florida reading a book to preschoolers and did not come on TV for many hours after the towers fell.
I remember him saying he would hunt down the people who did this and make them pay. A promise he has still yet to keep. When he couldn't keep good on his word he started a different war to divert the American peoples attention and make them THINK he was doing something.
The worlds most hated and wanted man was not Saddam Hussein, he was up there on the list but we all wanted Osama Bin Laden. The man has been killing people worldwide for a very long time and continues to elude us. I suspect Mr. Bin Laden is just a "figure head" and if we ever did catch him there would be lines of terrorists to step up and take his place.
I remember one story of a frantic woman with her daughter live on CNN trying to find her husband, the cameras followed her as she was told to go uptown to a certain spot and look. As the camera was on her the little girl screamed out Daddy!, and sure enough it was her dad who was in the building at the time of the crash and was indeed alive. I thought about all the other little boys and girls whose parents were not going to come home that day and began to cry. It was one of the most heartfelt "live" reunions I have ever seen. I am surprised that they did not replay that one.
I remember the video of the doctor hiding behind a car when the buildings came down and was amazed that he survived.
I remember the sadness, I remember the outpouring of compassion and help offered from the rest of the world that we were too proud to accept.
As one of the worst natural disasters in a very long befalls us with the flooding in New Orleans, I am reminded about how much hype was made about the Tsunami a few months prior. A lot of people lost their homes to devastation over the last several months. The doomsayers will say it is a cleansing of the planet. The scientists will tell you it is global warming.
As I noted in earlier entries the massive flooding in New Orleans could of been prevented had we worked to do something about it many years ago when the warning signs were there. It is a shame that our government is more concerned about a war for oil than it is about finding and providing alternative fuels and truly looking out for and protecting the people who entrust them to do so. I am proud of our soldiers but it shames me to see that we are so busy being into everyone elses business that we can't take care of our own.
9/11 could of been prevented, New Orleans flooding could of been prevented...no one listened, no one wanted to hear. The blinders still have not been lifted. I remember everyone saying that America, the sleeping giant has been awakened. The giant isn't a sleeping one, he has fell out of bed, he is dazed and his head is spinning from what happened. He's not getting up anytime soon and he is quite confused. We need someone in our leadership who can get him going in the proper direction again.
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