9/11

I was just looking through the headlines at the New York Times and this one caught my eye:
Study Suggests Design Flaws Didn't Doom Towers
Yes, indeed. There was a *paid* *study* to decide if it was the fault of the architects that the Twin Towers collapsed on 9/11!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (blink, blink...rubbing my eyes....trying to wake up and see if this nonsense is real.....) What is UP with stuff like this?? WHY OH WHY do we need studies for such things? Studies to see if people died because of the fault of
the firemen
the police
the architects
the airport

PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE OF TERRORISTS!!!!! Why should more money be spent on this? And if you want to get me even MORE angry, WHY ALL THE FINGER-POINTING AT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT????? You wanna get me going? You should feel my blood pressure right now.

My husband is a professional firefighter and has been fighting fires for 12 years now. I know the kind of man he is and I know the kind of men he works with. These are men who are willing to risk their lives and their health EVERY DAY to protect people and their property! The firefighters that showed up to the Twin Towers on 9/11 largely knew they were probably walking into the last building they ever would. They knew they were spending their time getting people out, while they themselves were running out of time. There were firefighters asking for last rites from their chaplain before they ran into those buildings. They knew. They knew. And still they went! They went in quickly and they went in bravely and they did what they could do to save as many as possible. And people want to spend government money to criticize THE FIREMEN????? Talk about a kick in the teeth to every husbandless wife, every fatherless child, every childless parent who lost as brave, selfless loved one from the fire department.....

Somebody remind me why it is that my husband voluntarily took on a job to save people who will turn around and criticize how it should have been done better?!??! Sometimes I just know in my gut that the job he does is not worth it, because someday he or somebody we care about on his department will be killed or injured while doing their job, and NOBODY WILL CARE. NOBODY WILL REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

Actually, that has already happened. A few months ago my husband had taken a personal day off of his shift, but that night his men responded to a fire at a storage facility, and one of his men was terribly injured. We received a phone call in the middle of the night, letting us know that while his men were trying to save people's STUFF (not even a life! Just STUFF!) that one of his long-time firefighters had his ladder fall, and his legs were injured such that he needed surgery and it was unclear if he would ever walk again. My husband went to the hospital immediately and stayed by the side of the family and other firefighters while they waited to see how their fallen man was doing. Months have gone by and this firefighter has had trouble from workman's comp such that they have suffered financially, the city government hasn't stepped up and done what they could to smooth the way so that this family wouldn't have more to worry about than they already did. Even the local newspaper, when reporting on the fire, mentioned this man's injuries as little more than a side note, and then proceeded to give much more space to the tragedy of the people whose STUFF was lost in the fire, and even gave out a phone number for people to call if they wanted to help THE PEOPLE THAT LOST THEIR STUFF!!! Was there any mention of a way to help the MAN WHO GOT INJURED TRYING TO SAVE THE STUFF? Nothing.

So, it happens in small ways, and it happens on the federal level. Except of course on the federal level they not only disrespect those that have done nothing wrong, but they spend a boatload of money on it as well.

The truth about 9/11 is this: There was no way to know. No way to know what was going to happen that day. No way for architects to design against specific terrorist attacks. No way for fire departments to prepare for something so unexpected and so unlikely. Sure, if we had the ability to see into the future, it could have been prevented. But, that's not real life. Real life is that bad guys look for ways that they can do bad things. I don't think it's possible for us to seal up all the holes. We're always vulnerable to some extent. So when the worst happens, what should our reaction be? Surely we can look at the situation and try to make sure the same thing won't happen again, but it'll never be good enough. While we learn how to build tall building that can somehow withstand having a jet being flown directly into it, the next attack could be 2 or 3 jets. Will we then have to build buildings to withstand that? Or while we spend our money figuring out how to make buildings that can withstand having jets flown into them, our enemies will laugh and move on to a new plan that has nothing to do with jets and tall buildings. It'll be the thing nobody is looking at.

9/11 and the waves and ripples that came from it is the darkest day in contemporary history for Americans. Do we have to sully it up further with studies and finger-pointing and stupidity?