I know this is a Georgia sports blog, and I promise I'll get to the post-spring defensive depth chart. But hey, it's my blog, so forgive me a diversion.
As some of you may know, I'm a native of our nation's capital, and I was living there on Sept. 11, 2001. I was lucky enough not to know anybody who was killed, but in the months after I often drove by the Pentagon, where a large shroud covered up the area that had been destroyed by a crashed plane. We lived in perpetual fear of the next attack. My step-brother joined the Army, something I considered myself, before continuing my rather unimportant sportswriting career.
But 9-11 affected us all. I understood that when I moved the next year to southwest Georgia, and was there on the one-year anniversary. It truly was an American event, and something that has shaped us for the past 10 years.
That's why the news of Sunday night was so ... well what's the right word?
Sweet? Vindicating? Exhilarating? ... I don't know.
The visuals are better: Some may find the celebrating at Ground Zero, outside the White House and other places to be a bit tacky. But I understand it. I was 25 on 9/11, but the college kids - those on the Georgia football team, for instance - have hardly known what it was like pre-9/11. They've lived about half their life in the world it created.
As someone who lived half my childhood overseas - my father was a diplomat in Spain and Latin America - at first I was sensitive to how the news, and the celebrations here, would play overseas. But the more I think about it, I don't care. This is our moment.
I'm glad we got him. I'm glad he's finally gone. I'm glad it was us who did it.
The news was a long-time coming. Probably too long. But it still came. And we're entitled to feel happy for a sense of justice.
Thank you to everyone in the military, everyone in the CIA, the White House. The current and former President. And the people in the Pentagon, which has long since been restored. Good job, everybody.
OK ... I'll get cracking on that depth chart now.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A quick thought on the news of the day
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4 comments:
Kudos on including this on the "sports" blog. This is the type of news that should be shouted from the rooftops.
Seth-
Being a Colonel in the United States Air Force and stationed at the Pentagon for the last 12 years, I want to thank you for that comment. I was in the Pentagon when the plane hit. This kind of news deserves to be on every blog. God Bless.
Seth, I've followed this blog for a long time, but this is my first comment. As a UGA student, I stood with my classmates on 9/11 and watched the madness unfold on a TV in Sanford Hall. Now as a Navy officer, I've had the opportunity to walk the corridors of the Pentagon that were destroyed and are now rebuilt, honor my shipmates that forever rest at nearby Arlington, and finally see justice for their sacrifice. This is surely a day to be proud, but the fight goes on. We will never forget. Thank you for the important post. God Bless and Go Dawgs!
well said, seth.
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