ANOTHER "INFAMY" DAY Many of us remember seeing and hearing our President of that time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt saying "Pearl Harbor Day" would be a day that would live in infamy!"
It almost seems as if he extracted that not too common word from the English language and set it apart to designate the unexampled and costly events of that unforgettable day. Even today when the term "infamy" is spoken millions of American - yes, and some citizens of other nations as well because we were all involved in the years of war which evolved from those death filled moment of treachery and deceit.
We now have another day which would qualify to fit the same level of placement. Currently we refer to this ignoble day in our national life as "9-11", "Nine-Eleven" and some are just beginning to understand the complex nature of the three leading events of this special day. Each has specific meanings to friend and relatives of those who died or were severely injured. The non-combatant of so many victims broadens and complicates the scope of great loss.
"Numbered "days fade fast. When I was a child we marked "Armistice Day" as a memorial to the dead and injured on World War one. November 11th was, to millions of us and we observed a time of silence in which we reverently acknowledged a debt of gratitude to whose who fought to maintain democracy as it was known to be in those days. With the the passage of years "Armistice Day" became "Memorial Day" to mark a once a year remember veterans of any war. It became a date on the calender - [printed in red or so other bright, exciting color to remind millions it is a holiday and marks the beginning of special Fall and Winter sales on all kinds of merchandise.
Certainly, we don't want that for "9-11!"
Tomorrow - September 11, 2006 - five years after this day of triple tragedy for our nation - reflect with special care on losses suffered by so many people and do not forget to recall that which, and those who, caused it all to strike us.
This time: remembering well " the whom, what, when, where, and why or how" of it all, may be the most important single act you can perform. We forced to see at the New York City Towers, The Pentagon Building and a crashed airliner in a field where a makeshift memorial is growing as a permanent reminder of the courage or those in what may well be the vanguard.
Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 9-10-06 [c438wds]
