Dan Rather NEW YORK CITY:
WE REMEMBER waking to a day unlike any other. A day when the lives we knew were changed in a fiery instant. A day when terror struck from the blue of a clear September sky. A day when we bore witness to death and destruction on a scale that we had not thought possible. Not here. Not in this day and age.
We remember the exponential jolts that came when the second plane hit, when live pictures of the twin towers in flames were crowded into split screen by the image of smoke pouring out of the Pentagon, when one and then another tower went down. We remember confusion and collapse. We remember the doctors who waited for thousands of wounded who never came. We remember dust.
We remember the 2,819 dead and missing at the World Trade Centre, at the Pentagon, in a Pennsylvania field.
We remember the fire-fighters who went up the stairs, never to return. We remember that 343 of New York's bravest gave their lives on that day. We remember that 60 New York City and Port Authority police were also killed in the line of duty. We remember the civilian heroes. Their courage inspired us; their courage made our grief all the more profound.
We remember a nation united: In shock. In sadness. In fear and anger. In resolve. We remember a time when politics seemed an unthinkable part of the equation.
We remember the glances we exchanged on our streets and in our public places. We remember the "Missing" posters. We remember the column of smoke that rose for months from Ground Zero, a phantom tower of pain. It stung our haunted eyes, made them water even after we had no more tears left. It grated our throats. We remember the pit in our stomachs that would not go away.
We remember when the New York skyline was a grander thing to behold. We remember a time before a new American generation had its innocence shattered. We remember the moment when a shadow fell across our lives, forever marking the days after as separate from the days before.
We remember that this was not a natural disaster. This was done to us. We remember that this was an attack. We remember that 15 of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, and we remember the lecture that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal delivered after visiting Ground Zero. We might remember this, also, the next time we hear talk about our "allies in the region."
We remember war against Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. We remember the promise that "They will be brought to justice, or justice will be brought to them." Despite the bombing, despite the victories on the ground and the fall of the Taliban, we reflect that this has not yet happened.
We remember "everything has changed." We see the culture of entertainment and gratification march on - in our shopping malls, on our television and movie screens, on our playing fields, on our highways - and we wonder what this meant and what it means.
There are times when we would like to forget. But we cannot, and we should not. We will not. We remember the lives lost. We remember the hurt and the harm. We remember the vows made.
Our hearts weigh heavier in our chests. Our eyes are opened wider. It has been a long, long year. And we remember.
We remember.
Dan Rather is a television news anchor.Copyright 2002 DJR Inc. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
