|
|
Editorials - 09/13/01Tuesday's terrorism sends nation reeling |
|
On Monday, life in the United States was normal. From sea to shining sea, we enjoyed our customary freedom of movement, we took for granted the twin towers of the World Trade Center rising high above New York City, and we didn't think to question the sanctity of our country's five-pointed symbol of military might.
On Tuesday, that all changed. We watched in horror as smoke poured from the skyscrapers and reeled with the news that the Pentagon was on fire as well and that the attacks were carried out with hijacked commercial flights. "It's the biggest thing since Pearl Harbor," said Herald Publisher Jim Gray. Now our nation has a second "Day of Infamy." Folks here in the mountains learned of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on a sunny Sunday, hours after the events had actually transpired. Tuesday, on a beautiful, sunny morning, we were in step with the rest of the world as satellite communications instantly brought the carnage to our television and computer screens. Our country on Tuesday suffered its worst attack since Pearl Harbor and the largest terrorist attack in history. Through four of our own commercial airliners, the perpetrators in one hour struck at the most visible symbols of our country's financial and military might and exposed this great nation's soft, vulnerable underbelly. Those who did these terrible acts will find that they should have put aside their fanaticism long enough to study a few history books. They would have discovered the terrible price Japan paid for awakening the "slumbering giant" and precipitating U.S. participation in World War II. The seeds of tragedy sown by Japanese Zeroes at Pearl Harbor flowered into the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We believe that this week's horrific attacks will again galvanize Americans to do whatever is necessary to stop the advance of terrorism both at home and abroad. We did not suffer the tyranny of England in 1776, and we will not bow to terrorists 225 years later. On this day patriotism was driven home more vividly than any civics lesson or Veterans Day observance ever could. On this day, we all experienced attack. We did not like it, and we will not stand for it. God bless America. |
Back to Archive: 09/13/01. |