 |
 |
|
|
Friends and loved ones have been hurt and this has touched the hearts of
people everywhere. While I can think harsh words of condemnation, I wanted to
make this page a collection of the thoughts of myself, my friends and from articles I have read that touched
me. The animated photogallery above was made by me. I did not want pictures of horror and terror - I wanted
tributes and heartfelt thoughts. The graphics on this page were made by myself or friends of mine, mostly. I
hope that you like our tribute to this country which my ancestors help to make!
What I find interesting at this time is that the two leaders for the Democratic party nomination for the next
President of the United States of America
want us to "talk" to these same
people who want us dead. How do you "talk" to someone who wants you dead just because you are you?
Why would these people listen to a
woman or an ex-muslim? Both are infidels in their eyes. I think we are in for dark times yet to come.
Over six years have gone by and there are many who have forgotten that day and what it meant. Have forgotten
to keep eternal vigilence. Have forgotten the pain and suffering of families involved. Have forgotten that "Freedom
isn't Free". Have forgotten that our American way of life - one that allows individuals to have their own opinions
and to express them is being challenged to the core!
I find that the hardest thing to phathom is why do they feel that they must obliterate ANYONE in the world who
is not of the muslim faith? In America we believe in religious freedom - the freedom to follow the religion of
your choice without persecution. But, these individuals want to wipe us from the face of the world. If we are do
not convert to their way of thinking we must be destroyed. Good god, we are long out of the Middle Ages - well,
the "civilized" world is. How can this area be the cradle of civilization - and not have become more "civilized"
itself? You can have progress, advancement and change, and still keep your religious ideas, no matter what
your religion. How can we learn to live in peace with a group of individuals who want us dead simply because
we exist?
I think that this is the hardest challenge we as Americans have to face. There are those who come to the United
States in search of freedom, but then challenge that freedom. They bring along their hatreds and try to corrupt
others around them. I believe in immigration - all our ancestors were immigrants! But, don't demand that my
way changes because it doesn't fit your way. If you want to keep "your way" then stay where you are - if you want
to become part of the great melting pot, to keep reverence to your heritage while paying homage to your new
country - Welcome!
Laurie, Alexander, Michael, Padriag & MacTavish |
for our September 11th page.
Thank you John!
Of every race and land,
Redeem the whole creation
With Your almighty hand;
Where hate and fear divide us
And bitter threats are hurled
In love and mercy guide us
And heal our strife-torn world.
From search for wealth and power
And scorn of truth and right,
From trust in bombs that shower
Destruction through the night,
From pride of race and station
and blindness to Your way,
Deliver every nation,
Eternal God, we pray.
Lord, strengthen those who labor
That all may find release
From fear of rattling saber,
From dread of war's increase;
When hope and courage falter,
Your still small voice be heard;
With faith that none can alter,
Your servants under gird.
Keep bright in us the visions
Of days when war shall cease,
When hatred and division
Give way to love and peace,
Till dawn the morning glorious
When Peace on Earth shall reign
And God shall rule victorious
O'er all the world's domain.
Welsh folk melody, 1865
Text by William W. Reid, Jr., 1958
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands - One Nation,
under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
- - - Francis Bellamy
if properly illuminated after dark.
I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies. |
I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.
I stand watch in America's halls of justice.
I fly majestically over institutions of learning.
I stand guard with power in the world.
Look up and see me.
I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.
I stand for freedom.
I am confident.
I am arrogant.
I am proud.
When I am flown with my fellow banners,
my head is a little higher,
my colors a little truer.
I bow to no one!
I am recognized all over the world.
I am worshiped - I am saluted.
I am loved - I am revered.
I am respected - and I am feared.
I have fought in every battle of every war for more then 200 years.
I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox.
I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France, in the Argonne
Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy, Guam.
Okinawa, Korea and KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam now me, I was there.
I led my troops, I was dirty, battleworn and tired, but my soldiers
cheered me And I was proud.
I have been burned, torn and trampled
on the streets of countries I have helped set free.
It does not hurt, for I am invincible.
I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled
on the streets of my country. And when it's by those
whom I've served in battle - it hurts.
But I shall overcome - for I am strong.
I have slipped the bonds of Earth
and stood watch over the uncharted
frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon.
I have borne silent witness to all of America's finest hours.
But my finest hours are yet to come.
When I am torn into strips and used as bandages
for my wounded
comrades on the battlefield,
When I am flown at half-mast to honor my
soldiers,
Or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent
at
the grave of their fallen son or daughter,
I am proud.
MY NAME IS OLD GLORY LONG MAY I WAVE.
DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN LONG MAY I WAVE!
A different perspective on "The Grinch"
with acknowledgements to Dr. Suess
Author Unknown
Every U down in U-ville liked the U.S. a lot,
It could be his turban was screwed on too tight,
But, Whatever the reason, his heart or his turban,
Tomorrow, he knew, all the U's and the S's,
And then they'd do something he liked least of all,
All around their Twin Towers of U-ville, they'd stand,
The Binch stole some U airplanes in U morning hours,
The Binch cocked his ear as they woke from their sleeping,
And the Binch heard the most unpredictable thing…
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
So we circle the sites where our heroes did fall,
For America means a bit more than tall towers,
But the Binch, who lived Far East of U-ville, did not.
The Binch hated U.S! the whole U.S. way!
Now don't ask me why, for nobody can say.
Or the sun from the desert had beaten too bright.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
He stood facing U-ville, the part that was urban.
"They're doing business," he snarled from his perch.
"They're raising their families! They're going to church!
They're leading the world, and their empire is thriving,
I MUST keep the U's and the S's from surviving!"
Would put on their pants and their shirts and their dresses,
They'd go to their offices, playgrounds and schools,
And abide by their U and S values and rules.
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand all united, each U and each S,
And they'd sing U-ville's anthem, "God bless us! God bless!"
And their voices would drown every sound in the land.
"I must stop that singing," Binch said with a smirk,
And he had an idea - - an idea that might work!
And crashed them right into the U-ville Twin Towers.
"They'll wake to disaster!" he snickered, so sour,
"And how can they sing when they can't find a tower?"
All set to enjoy their U-wailing and weeping.
Instead he heard something that started quite low,
And it built up quite slow, but it started to grow--
And he couldn't believe it - they started to sing!
He stared down at U-ville, not trusting his eyes,
What he saw was a shocking, disgusting surprise!
Was Singing! Without any towers at all!
He HADN'T stopped U-ville from singing! It sung!
For down deep in the heart of the old and the young,
Those Twin Towers were standing,
called Hope and called Pride,
And you can't smash the towers we hold deep inside.
With a hand in each hand of the tall and the small,
And we mourn for our losses while knowing we'll cope,
For we still have inside that U-Pride and U-Hope.
It means more than wealth or political powers,
It's more than our enemies ever could guess,
So may God bless America! Bless us! God bless!
|
on September 11, 2001 by Alexander Theodore, Bouvier, Fourth Year Resident
On the morning of September 11, 2001, there was an unprecedented amount of activity at the Rainbow Bridge.
Decisions had to be made. They had to be made quickly. And, they were.
An issue, not often addressed here, is the fact that many residents really have no loved one for whom to wait.
Think of the pups who lived and died in hideous puppy mills. No one on earth loved or protected them. What about
the many who spent unhappy lives tied in backyards? And, the ones who were abused. Who are they to wait for?
We don't talk about that much up here. We share our loved ones as they arrive, happy to do so. But we all know there
is nothing like having your very own person who thinks you are the most special pup in the Heavens.
Last Tuesday morning a request rang out for pups not waiting for specific persons to volunteer for special assignment..
An eager, curious crowd surged excitedly forward, each pup wondering what the assignment would be.
They were told by a solemn voice that unexpectedly, all at once, over 4,000 loving people had left Earth long before
they were ready. All the pups, as all pups do, felt the humans' pain deep in their own hearts.
Without hearing more,
there was a clamoring among them - "May I have one to comfort?" "I'll take two, I have a big heart." "I have been saving
kisses forever."
One after another they came forward begging for assignment. One cozy-looking fluffy pup hesitantly asked, "Are there
any children coming? I would be very comforting for a child 'cause I'm soft and squishy and I always wanted to be
hugged." A group of Dalmatians came forward asking to meet the Firemen and be their friends. The larger working
breeds offered to greet the Police Officers and make them feel at home. Little dogs volunteered to do what they do
best, cuddle and kiss. Father Mike got a special little Yorkie for his very own.
It was difficult to determine who was comforting whom the joy was so complete!
Dogs who on Earth had never had a kind word or a pat on the head, stepped forward and said, "I will love any human
who needs love."
Then all the dogs, wherever on Earth they originally came from, rushed to the Rainbow Bridge and stood waiting,
overflowing with love to share - each tail wagging an American Flag. |
Originally said by Gordon Sinclair, a Toronto television commentator
during the time of the Vietnam War.
Although 30 years old, it again is worth sharing.
|
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most
generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
|
Miami Herald, September 14, 2001
|
It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to provide words that help
make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of
airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can
find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the
unknown author of this suffering.
You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.
What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World
Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn?
Whatever it was, please know that you failed.
Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.
Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.
Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.
Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a
family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family
nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional
energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's
misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready
availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we
walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are
fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle
to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority
of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.
Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak.
You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot
be measured by arsenals.
IN PAIN
Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still
grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to
make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some
Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel.
Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final
death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of
terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of
the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before. But
there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall.
This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time
anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and
monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in
our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any
suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.
I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I
think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with
dread of the future.
In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers
pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be
done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security,
misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment
sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.
THE STEEL IN US
You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our
character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this
day, the family's bickering is put on hold.
As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we
will rise in defense of all that we cherish.
So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that
maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the
case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You
don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know
what you just started.
But you're about to learn. |
A Final Word - by Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun Times, September 14, 2001
|
If there is to be a memorial, let it not be of stone and steel. Fly no flag above it for it is not the possession of a nation,
but a sorrow shared with the world. Let it be a green field, with trees and flowers. Let there be paths that wind through the shade. Put out the park benches where old people can sun in the summertime and a pond where children can skate in the winter. Beneath this field will lie entombed forever some of the victims of September 11. It is not where they thought to end their lives. Like the sailors of the battleship Arizona, they rest where they fell. Let this field stretch from one end of the destruction to the other. Let this open space among the towers mark the emptiness in our hearts. But do not make it a sad place. Give it no name. Let people think of it as the green field. Every living thing that is planted there will show faith in the future. Let students take a corner of the field and plant a crop there. Perhaps corn, our native grain. Let the harvest be shared all over the world, with friends and enemies because that is the teaching our religions, and we must show that we practice them. Let the harvest show that life prevails over death, and let the gifts show that we love our neighbors. Do not build on this place. No building can stand there. No building, no statue, no column, no arch, no symbol, no name, no date, no statement, Just the comfort of the earth we share, to remind us that we share it. |
This American Tragedy Site #999 owned by Laurie, Diarmid, Alexander, Michael & Padraig [ Prev | Skip Prev | Prev 5 | List | Stats Join | Rand | Next 5 | Skip Next | Next] Powered by RingSurf! |
sent to us by Karryn of Memory Lane Collies
**Please do not take without Permission**