Yesterday ....

[libby]

Yesterday, 9/11/14, I was at home, and was watching the news, when, from 9 a.m. until 12 noon,  NBC switched to real time footage of the bombing of the twin towers in NYC.  And I watched, remembering every single thing.  Couldn't tear myself away. Went back in time, sat there as Katie and Matt wondered and watched and talked, and when Jim M...ski (sp) told them where he was (on the opposite site of the Pentagon), I knew exactly where the plane hit. (My first job for the USG was in the Pentagon.)

[Palehorse]

I purposely avoided news coverage of the event; 13 years of it was enough I thought. . .

But then a family member sent me a link to a video that was narrated by Tom Hanks, and it outlined the fact that on that day, the largest evacuation of people via watercraft took place. The largest one in history. And it outlined how hundreds, if not thousands, of private and publicly owned watercraft responded; first on their own, and then via a radio request from the USCG after they witnessed what was happening and deciding it was spot on action.

These men and women, aboard fishing boats, private yachts, tug boats, and even freighters, saw the hundreds of thousands of people lining the break walls of Manhatten and being engulfed by the clouds, with absolutely no way to get off the island; and took it upon themselves to drop everything else they were doing, pull alongside, and load those people up and take them to the mainland. The USCG frigates arrived while this was underway, and decided to put out a call for more watercraft; which was answered by every single watercraft within radio range.

These men and women ferried 500,000 people from Manhattan to various spots on the mainland, in 9 hours. Without their voluntary participation in the event, each and every one of those people would have had to spend the night at the waters edge, or wherever else they could have found some sort of shelter. With no means of communication, no means of getting anywhere else, (all bridges, roads, and communications were stopped dead), and without any means of contacting their families.

They came out of nowhere, from the sea and river, ferried these people to safety so that they could return to their families, and just as quickly faded back into oblivion. And it took 13 years for me to hear about this, in an age where if a bird farts in Zimbabwe we know about it before the fart is even completed. No chest thumping, no bragging, no media hype about it. . . for 13 years.

One man, obviously very wealthy and owning a large yacht, was at home watching the very same news coverage we were, when he turned to his wife and told her, "I have to do something." He then went to his yacht, fired it up, and went directly to Manhattan; among the very first watercraft taking part in the operation. He didn't know what he was going to do, but felt compelled to go there, and he said it was obvious as he pulled in closer to the island and could see that sea of people covered in the ash and debris, what he needed to do. And he kept doing it for 9 hours, until there was no one left to take to safety. . .

I know, its the old patriotism propaganda message we've been seeing for 13 years; or is it? These people kept what they did to themselves for 13 years; with only those they helped knowing what they did. And a whole lot of them didn't want to speak to those doing the film, and wouldn't. They only got a few of them to go on camera, and even then you could see their reluctance; and the emotions they still carry over what took place that day.

I am proud of those American Sailors, and Sailors are what they are. I discovered that rather than inspiring me to renew my patriotism, it instead made me proud to know that even in New York, the true American Spirit still resides within the hearts and souls of those who labor and play at sea. No matter what their station in life is, when humanity was in peril they answered the call, and did so without hesitation or thought to personal loss or gain; with only the safety of their fellow man in mind, and the happiness of their families, they did a job no one knew needed doing. And did it VERY well.

And although it wasn't written for island bound people in peril, the short film brought to the forefront of my mind this portion of the words of John B. Dykes wrote in "Melita" about 154 years ago:

".  .  .Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea. . .

While I am no fan of organized religion in any of it cornucopia of forms, those words none-the-less, came to mind after watching that film. They seem to have been written for that situation to me. Just my view in any case.

So despite my staunch effort to shut it out 13 years later, it found its way to me anyway. And I learned something new.

But don't take my word for it. Here's the link to what I viewed, so you can view it too, and interpret what it presents for yourself.

http://www.upworthy.com/as-the-tower-fell-he-turned-to-his-wife-and-said-i-have-to-do-what-i-have-to-do-right-now?g=2

[libby]

  You do have a way with words, Palehorse.  And the poetry is perfect.

[Purplelady1040]

You do have a way with words, Palehorse.  And the poetry is perfect.

I agree with that Libby about PH!!