SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

 

Every American who is old enough remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. It is indelible. A few months after the attack, we were flying into Newark to see my family in New Jersey. The usual approach was north to south, parallel to the Hudson River. Seeing the hole in the Manhattan skyline, once so familiar, was one of the few times in my adult life that brought tears to my eyes.

There is an event on Art Hill in Forest Park this week called Flags of Valor, https://flagsofvalorstl.com/. There are something more than 7,000 flags, all in precise rows, each representing a victim of that day and the military personnel who died in the response. Even crusty old me was deeply moved.            

 

STL DPB IN NEW YORK - IN MEMORIAM

At least for me, one of the most gut-wrenching features of the current World Trade Center is the pair of memorial pools in the precise shape and location of the Twin Towers. They fall down from sidewalk level with waterfalls on all sides into a shallow basin, which then empties into a smaller and seemingly bottomless central pit. Around the edges, black marble is engraved with the names of those who died on 9/11, the recesses colored gold. Here and there, the living tucked paper flowers bound with twist ties into the spaces.            

9/11

There is an event on Art Hill this week called Flags of Valor, https://flagsofvalorstl.com/. More than 7,000 American flags have been planted in orderly military rows, one for each  member of the armed forces who died in the line of duty since September 11, 2001. It is overwhelming and this shows only a small part. A lot of people were there on a sunny Friday afternoon. 

No American who was old enough at the time can forget where they were when they heard the news. I don't.          

We Remember September 11, 2001

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