Remembering 9-11

By By Thomas Tingle
Record Managing Editor
Should we make 9-11 a national holiday?
Statements have been made that 9-11 should be made a holiday to remember the lives of those who were lost on that tragic day.
I don't think 9-11 should be made into a national holiday. If we do that, then we should make the Oklahoma City bombing a holiday as well. It was the worst single act of terrorism on American soil in 1995 and many lives were lost. I think a special memorial should be built at the site of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. We don't need another day just to take off from work to mow the lawn or sleep in late.
Should the World Trade Center twin towers be rebuilt?
I think they should. I think we need to show the world that we can build the biggest and the tallest buildings in the world and that our American businesses will occupy them. Those buildings were a symbol of the strength and the power our nation has and it shouldn't be forgotten that we are just as strong and powerful as ever before.
So many thoughts and emotions are running through my mind as I remember the tragic events of 9-11.
While watching television this past weekend, there was a special broadcast about the events and plenty of video footage shown of the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania.
It's the first time I've watched and listened to video footage of the planes crashing into the towers, people jumping to their deaths, and the towers crashing down to the ground. I was stunned and saddened.
I couldn't believe what I was watching. We've all seen plenty of video footage taken of the towers, but it is the first time I've heard people on the ground running and screaming and seeing people swallowed up in a cloud of smoke and dust as the towers collapsed.
It was horrible. I couldn't help but want to watch, but then I decided to change the channel.
My son sat in the chair next to me and stared into the television. An article in the Sunday newspaper by First Lady Laura Bush said parents should limit how much television coverage children should watch of 9-11. I agree with her. It is important as parents for us to tell our children what happened, but too much is too much. They don't need to be terrified. We don't need to be suffocated by what has happened.
I also think television stations should limit what they put on the screen. We all know what happened. We all know the terrible loss of life that occurred that day. We will never forget it. We can't and we shouldn't. However, we don't need to be reminded of it every day for the rest of our lives.
I am truly grateful to live in this country. I am grateful for my freedom and the freedom's we all share. We have people living in this country from all over the world. They came here to be free and to live their lives as American's.
Our freedom's and our power threatens others, but we must never be scared and fear for our safety. Our lives have been changed as a result of 9-11 and the way we were then is different now.
I pray to God and thank Him for my life and the lives of my family and the world. If we all do that, we will always be safe.