Monday, September 11, 2023

TODAY IS 9/11 REMEMBRANCE DAY

There are certain events that should always be remembered and never forgotten. The September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers  and the Pentagon is one of those events

 

By Howie Katz 

 

the attack on the world trade center show both towers struck and burning

The president is not always present at one of the three memorial sites in New York, Pennsylvania, or Virginia (Pentagon crash site shown above). G.W. Bush and Barack Obama have observed the day from the White House, but never has the president been so far out of touch – clear across the county.

 

The 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon took the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans. Every president since then has participated in 9/11 commemorative ceremonies. Every president, that is except Joe Biden.

Biden is off in Vietnam talking about a John Wayne movie with Indians when babbling about climate change. Biden had been in India attending a G20 summit. Instead of returning home at the end of that meeting to commemorate 9/11, Biden flew off to Vietnam on September 10.

There are four events in my lifetime that I will always remember.

1. Coming to America

In 1936, my parents and I came to America as refugees from Nazi Germany.  I was only nine-plus-years-old, but I will never forget the awesome sight of those skyscrapers as our ship approached New York Harbor.

2. Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, I was in a Marshall, Texas movie theater. Suddenly the movie stopped and the lights came on. The theater manager got up in front of the now blank screen to announce the 'Japs' had bombed Pearl Harbor and sunk some of our battleships. 

3. The assassination of JFK

On November 22, 1963, I was in a meeting of parole agents in Santa Ana, California.  The meeting was interrupted and we were informed that President Kennedy had been shot and believed to be dead. We were then told to go home. 

4. September 11, 2001

On that date, I was a volunteer at the Houston Zoo cleaning out the Orangutan cages. The phone rang and I picked it up. Some guy said that a plane had accidentally hit one of the Twin Towers. After a short pause he said, "Hey, that was no accident, another plane has just hit the other tower."

Unfortunately, as the years go by, those events are forgotten.  That's why it is so important that our presidents commemorate 9/11. The attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon should always be remembered.

And we should also remember that except for the heroics of some brave passengers, another plane would have hit Congress or the White House.  

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