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9/11: A Day of Unequaled Loss
by Frank Salvato
11 September 2004

They say that those running for office shouldn’t politicize the events of September 11th, 2001. They say that to do so would make the American people numb to the true horrors of that day. Personally, I think those that have chosen to take the images out sight are the ones that should be chastised. For the old adage holds true, “Out of sight, out of mind.” And the one thing that we cannot do is forget.

For those who went to work in the World Trade Center on September 11th it should have been a day like any other. America is a country based on business and the people who occupied the structures known as the World Trade Center epitomized the superiority of American ingenuity, determination and work ethic. Those who filled the offices of this symbol of American business should have had their day filled with meetings, conferences and phone calls, profits, losses and investments. Instead, in a blink of an eye, their day was filled with horror, exploding glass, twisted steel and the taste of burning jet fuel.

For some it will be a recollection that is truly seared into their memories, chaotic moments when the true meaning of survival was understood. Floor after floor of clogged stairwells greeting thousands looking for an escape from a building whose size was then truly realized. For many others there will be no memories, no recollections. Their quest to escape their collapsing world vanquished. For them and their families, a day of unequaled loss.

For those firefighters, paramedics and police officers that answered the call of duty to serve, and to protect, September 11th proved to be the truest test of mettle they would ever know. While some were still climbing stairs in an effort to rescue those who could not help themselves, even as the very stairs they were climbing were falling from beneath their feet, many others were left to sift through the rubble of the fallen towers, bucket by agonizing bucket, in a quest for pieces of their fallen friends and those they came to help. Brothers of the Badge were forged that day as the people of the world bestowed the moniker “hero” upon them all. While the families of the fallen Brothers feel unequaled loss, those who made the ultimate sacrifice would have surely said they were just doing their jobs.

For those who went to work at the Pentagon on September 11th and survived, one can only imagine that thoughts of Pearl Harbor were not far from their minds. While those who were going through the horror of the World Trade Center still held the cause of their demise in question, those at the Pentagon knew that what had happened to them was an act of war. As anger and chaos reigned in the moments after the attack it was with dedication to their fellow man that Pentagon employees worked feverishly to help the wounded among the rubble and the dead. Those who fell victim stand as the first casualties in the War on Terror, their families afforded the stinging memory of unequaled loss.

And still there were those who died in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In a definitive example of American bravery, a selfless group of men and women, understanding the importance of not allowing those who had altered their world forever to succeed in their diabolical plot of murder, destruction and hate, took it upon themselves to come to the call of justice. Sacrificing themselves for their fellow Americans Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Jeremy Glick, Lou Nacke, Honor Wainio, CeeCee Lyles, and Sandra Bradshaw, among others, thwarted the carnage that could have been inflicted on our nations capitol and the hearts of all Americans. While their memories will stand forever in that Pennsylvania field their families and friends know the bitter taste of unequaled loss.

As a nation, we all share in that unequaled loss. Our innocence vanished in the deadly fireball that claimed the first lives in the World Trade Center. We will never be able to turn back time to a moment where we were ignorant to the evils of terrorism. It is a part of our lives now always to exist and because of this we, as a nation, as a people, know a different kind of unequaled loss.

They say that those running for office shouldn’t politicize the events of September 11th, 2001. They say that to do so would make the American people numb to the true horrors of that day. Personally, I think those that have chosen to take the images out of sight are the ones that should be chastised. For the old adage holds true, “Out of sight, out of mind.” And the one thing that we cannot do is forget. We cannot forget the horror, the terror, the anger, the sadness or the memories of all the souls released from the world that day at the hands of savages.

Let’s keep these memories close at hand, every single one of them. Let’s vanquish those who oppose us in the War on Terror and hold those complacent responsible. It is the least we can do for those who perished and those who understand the unequaled loss.