Here's my other favorite picture from 9/11, a shot of Dubya as an aide is telling him what happened. I'd love to have a snip of the videotape. The montage of feelings on his face were incredible - shock, horror, revulsion, understanding, resolution, strength, all in milliseconds.
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I don't pretend that Dubya has some special qualities that make him more suited than others to handle the situation, but he was there when the moment occurred, and he rose to the occasion.
We all grew that day.
But my favorite moment of all is not something I ever saw in a photo or on videotape. As soon as I understood what was happening, I picked up my kids from school, and we went, in this order, to fill up the tank with gas, take money out of the ATM, and buy food at Costco.
So the moment I am thinking of occurred between picking up the kids and heading to the gas station - it was minutes after the second tower fell.
I saw a young man dressed only in a pair of jeans, carrying a large American flag on a standard, walking down the sidewalk, waving the flag for all to see. I had one of those moments that makes you just want to yell "Yes!" and honked my horn at him. He raised his free hand with a victory sign as we drove by.
Looking back on it, it reminds me of the moment in "The Patriot," when Mel Gibson picked up the flag and charged at the Brits. It's the kind of moment that happens in movies, but it really happened.
By the time I got home from stockpiling money and food, people everywhere had hung flags outside their houses, and when I got home, I did the same.
Later that day, I helped more selfless people collect money and necessary goods for those who were fighting the fire at the Pentagon, but it wasn't my first thought, my first thought was for my kids, my husband, and saving my own unworthy butt.
Hats off to those whose first thoughts were selfless.
CB@dutyhonorcountry.com |
