Pearl Harbor. Martin Luther King’s Assassination. Kennedy’s Assassination. 9-11. These have been some of darkest days in U.S. history, days that impacted not only the course of our history, but also our nation’s psyche.
It seems that every generation experiences at least one of these days, where the country stands still to collectively witness and mourn a tragic, and often, unexpected event. Today, of course, marks the 14th anniversary of 09/11. As a nation, we say: “We Will Never Forget.” And, we won’t.
At Matchmaker Logistics, our team talked about where we were on that fateful day. Some were students who remember classes coming to an abrupt halt while teachers turned on television sets to watch the news. Some were conducting ‘business as usual’ in their offices and first heard of a plane hitting the World Trade Center from colleagues, clients or vendors. Some recall bursting into tears upon hearing the news.
While one Matchmaker Logistics team member was still processing the tragedy, her stepfather received a call to deploy. Another went to church with her daughter to pray for our nation as well as for her mother who was going into a cancer-related surgery; she almost lost her that weekend too.
On December 7, 1975, President Gerald Ford spoke at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial for the Pearl Harbor Memorial Ceremonies in Honolulu, Hawaii. His words, which I have paraphrased below, still ring true and could have easily been spoken at today’s 09/11 memorial services:
“We who remember 09/11 will always remember. For us it is a moment etched in time, a moment of shock and mixed feelings and, particularly, disbelief. A moment of sorrow, of anguish and of anger….
….In all the history of war there is a recurrent question, why do people have to die? Why not save, instead of spend, our bravest and our best? Could they not live for their country, work for their country, achieve for their country? Can’t we have living heroes, patriots of peace, and raise our monuments to lives well lived rather than memorials to lives snuffed out in the black smoke of battle?
We who remember 9-11 will never drop our guard nor unilaterally dismantle our defenses. But we Americans must and will use our moral leadership and our material strength to bring…the world little by little, year by year, closer and closer to real and reliable peace.
We will hold our course for a peaceful world, remembering that vigilance, the price of liberty, must be paid and repaid by every generation. We will keep faith with our past as we work to build a better world for our children and our grandchildren.”
Honor, remember and reflect this weekend,
~Bob
