Filed In: Tribute

Remembrance Day 2013 – A Tribute

Screen shot 2013-11-08 at 9.44.42 PM

 

As a little girl, I distinctly remember honouring Remembrance Day at school, as we observed 1 entire minute of silence at exactly 11:00 am (the 11th hour of the 11th day on the 11th month), and while I understood it had to do with events that happened long before I was born, this commemoration was still somewhat bewildering to me.

Many years later, and while I’m not at school any longer, I still continue the same yearly tradition of observing that 1 minute of silence, but now I have a deeper grasp of what it’s all about, and on this day in particular, my heart is both heavy with the knowledge of all the sacrifices made by these fallen heros, and so incredibly grateful for the privileges I now enjoy. It’s ALL because of their sacrifices — lest we forget.

The brave and honourable men and women who fought in these wars, believed in a greater cause: freedom. It’s so easy to lose sight of everything you have, until you stop for just 1 minute and think of everything you might have never known. Because of their sacrifices.

Lest we forget – I remember, and honour.

 

war-poppy-dave-parrott

9/11 Remembered – A Tribute

 

8:46 am. 9:03 am. 9:37 am. 10:03 am.  These are all times that the world will never forget, as it is when the terrorist attacks occurred on that fateful day, Tuesday, September 11, 2001.  The unexpected and unthinkable had finally come to North American shores, and we all stood transfixed in shock, disbelief and horror, as we watched these events unfold.  You may forget what you did this very morning, but chances are that you’ll never forget where you were and what you were doing on that solemn day.

I had just come home from having dropped off my then 7-year old daughter at school. The time was approximately 8:15 am, and as was my habit, I turned on CNN to catch up on world news.  Not 30 minutes later, the regular broadcast was interrupted by breaking news that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.  I called my husband to tell him what I just heard, and as I was on the phone with him, and to my everlasting horror, I watched live footage as a second plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, confirming that the first was no accident and that the US was under terrorist attack.  With my heart lodged somewhere in my throat, all I could feel at that moment was incredible grief.  The rest, is now forever a part of American, and world history.  Please note that in the following images and statistics, I have deliberately omitted including the terrorists amongst the dead.

 

At 8:46 am, American Airlines flight #11 hijacked by 5 terrorists, crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing all 92 people aboard.

 

At 9:30 am, United Airlines flight #175, hijacked by 5 terrorists, crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing all 60 people aboard.  This was to be the only impact seen live as it was taking place.

 

The Twin Towers, right before toppling forever into history, had a total of 2,819 souls killed that day, including employees, and rescue workers.

 

At 9:37 am, American Airlines flight #77, hijacked by 5 terrorists, crashes into the western side of The Pentagon, killing all 59 people aboard, as well as 125 people in the building, for a total of 184 dead.

 

At 10:03 am, United Airlines flight #93, hijacked by 4 terrorists, crashes into a rural field in Stonycreek Township, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people aboard. This flight was the only one that failed to reach its target (potentially either the White House or The Capital in Washington, DC), due solely to the bravery of the passengers and crew, who having learned of the other attacks, wrestled control of the plane from the terrorists and brought it down in as remote an area as they could.

 

 

As a Canadian and having no ties with anyone related to these heinous and cowardly attacks, I could easily have felt somewhat removed; but as a human being and immediate neighbour to the US, I could not help but be affected. These attacks were not only aimed towards Americans, but to Westerners all over the world, and the main thing I felt, was my freedom being threatened. There is no logic, no reason, no words that will ever encompass the scope and magnitude of the events on that day, except to say that we will never forget, never surrender, and always remember.  The fragile beauty that is life, was never brought home more poignantly than through all the losses suffered on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

 

Forever in our hearts

 

 

 

*Image credits found herehere, and here