Three days that anyone in the United States old enough to know what was going at the time exactly where they were and what they were doing: December 7, 1941, November 22, 1963, and September 11, 2001. For those alive on each of those days, everything changed.
Now, marking the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack, there’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said. Five years ago, I wrote an essay asking if 2001 was America’s last summer. See http://www.bobreagan13.com/2011/09/proud-towers-fall-americas-last-summer.html Still don’t have the answer, but every time we fly commercially, we cannot help but be reminded, especially those of us who flew during the halcyon days before air hijacking and terror became endemic. Fifty years ago this recent August, I and a friend as young college students made our first trip to Europe. In those days, family and friends could even come aboard the aircraft to see us off. I recall having a Swiss Army knife in my carry-on bag that concerned no one. Those days won’t be coming back, and that’s too bad.
A few years ago, I recall hearing the classical music radio station play Mozart’s Requiem during the time the twin towers were attacked. This past evening, I watched a film that played the Funeral March from Wagner’s Die Gotterdammerung. Both are profound, but each has a somewhat different message about death and destruction. Not sure which is the right one for this day.
/
