Sunday, September 11, 2005

A Dignified Rememberance...

I think it's so very important to watch the events of September 11th. It's far too easy to become complacent and forget the impact and horror of it all - especially in this particular time of trying to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. So, in light of this - I opted to avoid watching the atypical footage and watch the Discovery Channel's special about United Flight 93. I truly enjoyed this. It evoked emotions and showed the events of the day - but it provided insight and story background about this portion of the tragedy that has previously been not as highly recognized. To hear the details and backgrounds of the 33 passengers on board, and how through actual cell phone calls you can hear how they planned to overtake the terrorists was just amazing. Did you know that of those 33 people, there were about 8 of them that actually had the skillset to overtake and potentially land the plane, had they been successful? Two law enforcement officials, A Judo Master, an Emergency Management employee, and a retired Airline pilot? Then of course the few other gregarious and aggressive personality type men. They truly stood a chance had they gotten the "pilot" out of the seat. Amazing. Another interesting thing on their cell phone calls: They were eerily calm. No tears on the phone, very very smooth. For a split second, I was hoping they'd be successful - they tried to take control of their situation, and it seemed like they could possibly do it. And then of course, the second passed - and the reality of the day sinks in all over again.

Did you know that Todd Beamer's infamous quote of "Let's Roll" was because they boiled hot water and had it on one of the airline carts and they were rolling it down the aisle to barge into the cockpit to scald the terrorists so that they could weaken them and then kill them? Amazing.

Despite the reality of the ending, it was a dignified and beautiful story of human spirit and survival and a way to remember 9/11 in a manner that was less raw than the manner in which we watched it unfold. God Bless America - Never Forget.

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