As Dana Milbank notes, for example:
Washingtonians will have so much to do, in fact, that they may have little time to think about what else is happening Tuesday: the 11th anniversary of the killing of 3,000 people in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.Some decry this. Most do not. I saw something similar happen in Oklahoma City when we lived there in the years following the Murrah bombing. Time heals, although not always completely, nor without scars, but we do move on.
Nine-eleven just isn’t what it used to be. Residents of the capital will awaken to what is forecast to be another clear Tuesday morning, just like that one 11 years ago, and they will find that the day that changed the nation is becoming more and more ordinary.
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future. - Steve Miller BandShould we pause? Yes. Freeze? No. But pause, yes. Forgive? Maybe, but... well, we should. Forget? No. Hell, no.
For the 5th anniversary of September 11th, as part of Project 2,996 hosted by D. Challenger Roe to give more than names, ages, and occupations to the pictures of the victims who died from the attacks of September 11, 2001, I wrote a memorial about one of the victims, Joe Leavey. A lightly edited version is below.
I am the same age today that he was that day 11 years ago. That can give a guy pause. One more thing to remember from that day, I guess, which turns out to be the same lesson as Oklahoma City: Don't take time for granted. So, in the spirit of pausing, please hold time for a moment to learn about and remember this one life and the others lost that day.
What Heaven is For
One of the stanzas of "Home on the Range" asks whether the glory of the stars in the heavens exceeds the glory of man. A conceit, to be sure, and one that many today would dismiss as that which is the worst about America. But it also reveals a sense of awe, rooted in humility, that often gets glossed in a self-absorbed culture of chatter and buzz. "Look what we can do" is not a phrase we hear much these days, four years after a financial crisis from which we haven't recovered, seven years after Katrina and a dozen years after invading Iraq, but, I suspect, it's a thought that Joe Leavey carried about him every day.
Lt. Joseph Leavey FDNY Ladder 15 |
He always wanted to be a firefighter and he gave up his high-paying position to became one, eventually rising to lieutenant. His wife Carole said that he was a people person who knew everyone in their town. People people love people. I can imagine the reasoning behind his becoming one of New York's Bravest being along the lines that after helping to create many buildings, recognizing that ultimately buildings are for people and concluding that buildings and people deserve to be protected and saved, the time had come to act on his love of buildings and his love of people.
Joseph Gerard Leavey, 45, stationed in the South St. Seaport with Ladder 15, was one of the first firefighters to arrive at the World Trade Center. Riding to defend his loves, he stepped into the breach of chaos to find that this time his reach exceeded his grasp. He grew up in Inwood, attended Good Shepherd School, Power Memorial High, and Manhattan College. He lived in Pelham with his wife, his son, and his daughter, with a stepdaughter who lived in Manhattan. May that he and all the heroes and innocents of that day have been greeted by the angels of heaven and led unto paradise. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment