What It Means To Remember

In 1990, Lois Lowry wrote "Number the Stars," a historical fiction novel about two girls living in 1930s Denmark on the brink of the Holocaust. In this story, one girl comes from a Jewish family and the other girl and her family is helping them escape the Nazis. Though this is a fiction, it is very much steeped in history in a way that children as young as 8 or 9 can understand the horrible things that happened to Jewish people during that time.

"Number the Stars" won the Newbery Award that year. During one of Lowry's speaking engagements, she says that a woman came up to her and asked why people wrote about the Holocaust and World War II. It was so long ago, why do we need to revisit these horrible events in history? What does it have to do with us?

Partially as a response to this woman's comments, Lois Lowry wrote "The Giver." This book is about a society that chooses to forget. They forget about war and fear and pain. They have everything decided for them and they are spared any hard or difficult thing. But at the same time, they also give up the joys and delights of life. There is no color or weather or differences or choices in this world - nothing to give variety to existence.

I bring this up because it has been ten years since September 11, 2001. Some people may think that it's time to move on. Sure, recognize this day and that it happened, but don't really make a big deal out of it. Because it's easier to forget such a horrible thing happened.

Yeah, in some ways it would be easier to forget. Just treat this day like any other day to sit in front of the TV and enjoy the opening weekend of the football season. Eat chips and drink soda and yell at the players and referees who screw up three or four states away because in the long run, it doesn't mean anything.

But some of us just don't want to forget.

To their credit (and who would expect any less?), the NFL is doing a lot of memorials and there are some good ads from companies to commemorate this day. I'm sure there will come a point where these are unnecessary and it won't be as big of a deal to remember and rehash that horrible day.

But I am glad that it hasn't happened yet.

I still remember vividly where I was when I learned of the attacks. I was in high school and heading to my biology class. I got a late start that morning, so I didn't get a chance to see the news or listen to the radio, so I had no idea that anything was wrong. We were supposed to have a test in biology that day, but our teacher had the news coverage on when we walked in and there was no way any of us could concentrate on something as silly as a biology test.

Now it's ten years later. In that time, I've been to four years of college, 18 months on an LDS mission and one semester away from my master's degree. I have a little niece and a handful of cousins that have been born since September 2001. I wonder if they will ever understand the significance of 9/11 - how scary that was, even for those of us who were on the other side of the country that day. I've never been to New York, but it's still an emotional thing for me to think about. Because terrorist attacks are things that happen in other places far away from me. They happen in countries that aren't as safe as mine. I don't have to worry about evil people who hate me and want to kill me because of my religion or my race or where I was born or where my parents were born. But to see something like that happen in the United States - a place where I have felt safe and secure my entire life - it rattled me. And I don't like being rattled.

I don't know anyone personally who lost someone in these attacks, but I understand and I feel the loss just as much as if it was one of my parents or my siblings or my friends. I am supremely grateful to the firefighters, police officers, military and just plain ordinary people who stepped up that day and in the days since to keep this country and its citizens safe and free.

When I see my little niece giggle or when I get to play with my little cousins, I often think about the world they get to grow up in. It's getting increasingly dangerous, but it's also getting increasingly safe and people are becoming better. Here's what I mean by that: in the Doctor Who story "Genesis of the Daleks," there is a memorable scene where the Doctor has a chance to prevent the creation of his greatest enemies, the Daleks. The Daleks are the supreme evil in the universe and the Doctor has been sent back in time to destroy them before they can become the destructive force that so many people fear. The Doctor has this moment which has become known as the famous "Have I the Right?" moment. He wonders if he has the right to completely destroy the Daleks - even knowing the horrible things they will do. One line that I think gets overlooked is the one where the Doctor says that people will ally themselves against the Daleks and good people will do great things because they choose to fight the Daleks. This scene is not entirely about averting genocide as it is about the contrast of good and evil - the more evil there is in the world, the more good stands out against it.

That, I think, is the greatest lesson to learn from 9/11 - Evil exists in the world, but good will stand against it and that is what's worth celebrating.

It's certainly worth remembering.

Remembering 9-11

The following is an column I wrote for the Snow College newspaper (it was the third anniversary of 9-11, so this talks about it being three years ago). It's as pertinent today as it was then, perhaps even more, so I'm posting it here (in italics):

Here’s a little memory game for you to play: can you remember where you were on May 2, 1993? December 16, 1990? June 29, 2000?

How about September 11, 2001?

I can remember exactly where I was when I heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center. I was going to my biology class and I was a little stressed because we were supposed to have a test that day. When I walked in, I could tell that the test would be canceled. The TV in the room had on CBS with live video on the first tower. We watched the planes hit the second tower and the Pentagon. Then we heard about the plane that had crashed in Pennsylvania. No one knew what to think or what to say.

I could go through every detail of my day that day, but I have a limited amount of space to make my point. One morning changed everyone in the entire world. Americans were brought face to face with the kind of fear that we had only seen in far countries on the evening news. Up until then, most Americans thought, “Well too bad for those people, but it really doesn’t affect me.” Up until then, “The Star Spangled Banner” was just a formality before ball games.

In the weeks that followed, America remembered why it is the greatest country in the world. We put aside all our racial, political, cultural differences and stood together behind the firefighters, police officers, military, and government officials who were making decisions to keep us from harm. We started standing and belting out the national anthem every chance we got. People stood in line to give blood since it was the only thing that they felt they could do to be useful.

This Saturday marks the third anniversary of the day that put “terrorism”, “Homeland Security”, and “Nine-Eleven” in everyone’s vocabulary. I’d like to say that we’re still as patriotic and firm as we were back then, but I can’t. We’re back to blaming each other and fighting amongst each other instead of fighting against the real enemies. We’ve started to forget.

Of course we want to get on with our lives. I can’t think of one American who doesn’t wish that September 11 hadn’t happened and that this Saturday could just be an average Saturday to sleep in or go home for the weekend. But the truth is that the attacks on America happened. Whether or not is has made America better is to be determined, but one thing is certain: we do need to go on with life, but never forget what happened. The calendar will continue to turn to September 11 each year and world events won’t let us forget how our lives have changed, but we should never let our hearts forget how shocked and confused and angry we felt at seeing those buildings go down. History has a funny way of repeating itself when we forget in our hearts what history was trying to tell us.

When the rockets’ red glare gave proof that the flag was still there back in the War of 1812, it was a symbol for Frances Scott Key that America would always prevail, no matter what adversity had in store. The people of this great nation have to stand firm to make sure this nation continues to stand firm.

Today's the ninth anniversary of the worst attack on America. It's kind of hard to "celebrate" something like this.  However, I want to take a moment out of my football-watching and weekending to pause and think of the people who died and people who risked their lives to save others (and the people who continue to risk their lives to keep our rights intact).  They deserve to be thought of even in the midst of our busy frantic lives.

Y'know, I like to fangirl and geek out over fictional heroes (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, 24, Heroes, Doctor Who, various anime, etc.), but the firemen, police officers, passengers on United 93, anyone who helped others get to safety on 9-11 and, of course, the troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq are the real heroes.  I think the reason these kinds of fictional stories ring true now is because of the times we are living in.  We can relate to the stories of heroes and sacrifice because we are witnessing it every day.  Human beings naturally gravitate toward heroes in real life and fiction because they inspire greatness - they represent a chance that the world is still inherently good, despite all evidence to the contrary.  I like to look on the positive side of things and September 11 is no different.  If nothing else, September 11 gave us heroes to look up to.

(Hm, terrorists want us to despair and fear, but really, they set events in motion that give us reason to hope.  ^_^)

If you want an uplifting activity to commemorate this day, read all the verses of "The Star-Spangled Banner".  It's really interesting that most countries have national anthems that talk about how beautiful their country is and that it's their home and they'll be loyal to it - which we have patriotic songs that say the same thing.  But our national anthem is about how we sometimes go through hard times and challenges, but we - like the flag in the song - will come out of the smoke and the rubble.  Maybe we come out with a few scars and a huge black eye, but we're still standing and we're going to rebuild what we lost and stand up to those who want to do us harm.  I like that we're that unique.

And here are a few more icons to commemorate the day (these and the ones at the beginning are all by kc_anathema.)

 

September 11 - It may not be a "happy" holiday, but remember it. Just remember.

"Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
- "The Star-Spangled Banner" 4th verse

(This post was adapted from a post I wrote on 9-11 in 2007)