Wednesday September 12, 2012

So it’s Sept. 12.

Other than the fact that it’s hump day and we can start our slide towards the weekend, what happened on this day? Well, in 1953 JFK married Jackie O; nine years later JFK braisingly told the world that in less than eight years we’d put a man on the moon and return him safely home. Australia banned Bungee jumping on this day.

But since 2001, Sept. 11 earned a place in history that will never be forgotten.

It amazes me that it was 11 years ago we were attacked. A total of 2,792 people died in the World Trade Center attacks; 184 innocent people died in the Pentagon attack (including those on the plane), and 40 died in the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. The words Sept. 11, 9/11 have become less of a date and more of a statement. It’s an bookmark in our history that will forever mark one of the darkest days we in the modern era have ever experienced. For the generation born after Nov. 22, 1963, (the Kennedy Assassination) Sept. 11 becomes our "Do you remember where you were?" To answer that question -- yes, I do.

I was coming out of the doctor’s office and turned on my phone and received several voice mails. Before I even listened to the first one I knew it was bad because my phone had only been off for about 45 minutes.

It’s important that we remember that day and it’s important that we never forget what happened. The more we remember, the less of a chance

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we have at history repeating itself. If we can harken to the way we felt on that day in 2001, the unknown, the confusion, the sadness, the panic and the frustration that we had on Sept. 11, we can stand a good chance of avoiding another attack. We’ll be more aware, we’ll pay better attention and maybe we can just live together without fear of this happening again.

But 9/11 has definitely redefined how we move about the planet. Because on Sept. 11, 2000, we were still laughing at people with Y2K T-shirts predicting the collapse of all computers. Without the attacks, the day is probably best remembered as the day Pete Rose broke Ty Cobbs’ all-time hit record to secure his place in the Baseball Hall of Fame (well, almost). So it’s safe to say that 9/11 for the rest of our lives will always mean something, whether you lost someone on that day or not. If it can land on a Sunday -- it’ll be Sept. 11, if it lands on a Thursday, it’s Sept. 11.

We should also remember all of those first responders who were there, some of whom lost their lives that day, some of whom would have gladly died trying to save someone. I vividly remember the footage of firemen and policemen trying to find signs of life and coming up empty. These are people who are trained to save lives and weren’t able to because of the utter devastation. I have a place in my heart for those that worked their fingers to the bone with little reward.

We should never forget, but we should also not let any of this stop us from living our lives. It was 11 years ago, next year it’ll be 12 and so on. It will get further and further away and with separation comes the distance between the event and the pain you felt around the event. I guess that’s healthy and not a bad thing, because let’s face it, if women remembered how much it hurt to give birth it would have all ended with Adam and Eve.

What the hell is up with that?

Fish is the morning talent on Classic Hits 92.7 FM. He also offers up his opinion on-line at www.whatda hell.net. E-mail him at fish@wk vt.com.