I think the entire world was struck dumb while watching what was happening on Sept 11 2001. I was sat eating my lunch when the television channels started showing the aftermath of the first tower being hit. I looked at my friend who was sat across the room and asked him where he got such a realistic DVD from....then it dawned on me...and him...that this was no DVD, it was very real.
In the years since, there have been a steady stream of documentaries and films about the various aspects of that day and how the worst in human nature somehow brought out the best in others. Flight 93, for example, will always stay in my mind...not cos of what it portrays, but for the spirit shown by those involved for real. We can only assume what the conversations were in that plane, we will never know exactly what was done or said, but the film epitomises, to me at least, that in the worst situation possible, there is always the fighting spirit within everyone, no matter how doomed things really are.
There is also one other memory of what happened, something often forgotten about and frequently shunned. The documentary about two women, who up until that day didn't know each other existed, but by their partners being thrown together in such awful, mindblowing circumstances, they became firm friends. They showed bravery...but on a different level, they lost their husbands that day but the had to courage to embrace the mothers who had lost their sons.....brave...I think so, afterall those two women, and many others since, have visited Afghanistan and visited with the families of those who carried out the crimes that day. The widows made friends and comforted those families and have remained close friends with them and will probably continue to remain frinds with them...that to me, is bravery...it is also the greatest act of forgiveness anyone can make in such dreadful circumstances.
The world will never forget Shanksville...or Manhattan...or Washington DC....we can't, it is burned into this world's history, and no-one can ever change that. |