Readers reflect on 'the unthinkable'.Byline: The Register-Guard Resilience unchanged Early on the morning of Sept. 11, I was pouring coffee when the phone rang. It was my mother-in-law, asking if I had seen the TV news. She said she was coming over and hung up abruptly. She sounded strange, but I just went and turned the TV on. That was when I saw the United Airlines plane going into the second World Trade Center tower. I just screamed as I watched the plane - its name, logo, color and size - crash into the tower, and then I went speechless. My daughter Malia came running out and and hugged me, feeling everything I was feeling because her mummy is a United Airlines flight attendant of 29 years. As I write this the tears flow, remembering my coworkers - some whom were my dear friends - and all the lives that were abruptly taken that morning. Their images were engraved en·grave tr.v. en·graved, en·grav·ing, en·graves 1. To carve, cut, or etch into a material: engraved the champion's name on the trophy. 2. in my mind, and the job I loved so dearly had changed forever. What hasn't changed, though, was the resilience that has shown up in all of us who were touched by Sept. 11. Through this tragedy, people have become more friendly, compassionate and caring and now stand united with their fellow countrymen. We have turned outward rather than inward, from "I" to "we." Let us hope and pray that we continue on this path of patriotism and involvement to honor those who gave so innocently of their lives. MARY WHITE Mary White may refer to any of the following:
Reaping political gain Just like Christmas, Valentine's Day Valentine's Day: see Saint Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day Lovers' holiday celebrated on February 14, the feast day of St. Valentine, one of two 3rd-century Roman martyrs of the same name. St. , Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day and the Fourth of July Fourth of July, Independence Day, or July Fourth, U.S. holiday, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Celebration of it began during the American Revolution. , Sept. 11 has been invaded by the forces of commercial and political exploitation. The theme has already been established by the current administration: It is reaping political gain from the misfortunes of others. Like the shameless merchants of trash and trivia, they are circling overhead like the vultures that they are. PETER F. HUMMEL hummel entire, naturally polled deer. Eugene Heroic Americans Sept. 11 is etched as deeply in my being as Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor, land-locked harbor, on the southern coast of Oahu island, Hawaii, W of Honolulu; one of the largest and best natural harbors in the E Pacific Ocean. In the vicinity are many U.S. military installations, including the chief U.S. , V.E. day, Kennedy's assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. and the moon landing. These events are momentous and worth honoring. I do deeply honor all of our heroic dead and all those living who were so personally wounded by terrorist evil. The knowledge that America has heroic and unselfish people - millions of them - has inspired me. I also deeply honor us as a nation of patriotic, heroic peoples who can truly be trusted when great troubles come. The American ideal was not dead, friends, it was only sleeping. In God we trust. JEANNE ANNE WERNER Eugene Memories of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Where do I begin to remember so much? The diminutive young rabbi who prayed all the way as we flew from San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden to New York. The New York Red Cross headquarters in Brooklyn absolutely overflowing with volunteers who had come from all over the country come to help. The rescue workers who came through the respite center exhausted from hours of digging and who headed out again for hours more, hoping they might find he body of a friend to ease the family's pain. They were so grateful for a meal and a cheerful face, maybe a massage and a new pair of insoles for their boots. The ironworker who sat down to dinner with me one night and talked about how important it is to live in the moment. He said looking back produces anger and regret, and to focus on the future makes one feel anxious and fearful. Live in the present, he said - savor it and be grateful for it. The quiet holiness of a walk with the chaplain one night around the perimeter of the site, the sense of being on hallowed ground, so many souls so quickly released from living. The middle-aged lady on the street one day looking at an impromptu memorial set up on the plate glass window of a grocery store that caught my eye. She turned to me with tears in her eyes to say "they still have not found my brother's body." My husband is perceptive when he says that I left a part of myself in New York, too. How could I ever forget? NANCY LESYON Springfield Remember all victims Sept. 11 grieves me for the utter lack of recognition and empathy for the hundreds of people from other countries who also lost their lives. Also, it saddens me to see our flag used symbolically as a reason to justify acts against others. And, lastly, the fear tactic that has been omnipresent om·ni·pres·ent adj. Present everywhere simultaneously. [Medieval Latin omnipres , whether justified or not, dramatically affects everyone negatively. PAT HIBDON Eugene Building affirmatively Sept. 11, 2001, was a day of sadness and anger for all of us. We grieve for the victims and hope that acts of terror in this nation and across the globe will end. It was also a day that ushered in new acts of intolerance and bigotry nationally and in this community. The city of Eugene's Human Rights Commission has struggled to nurture community, build a climate of safety, and work to guarantee human rights for all. We need to continue to heal as a society and community, mourning for the past, but building affirmatively for the future as well. In remembering the horrendous acts of hatred, the commission wishes to remind us all of the need for tolerance and appreciation of the diversity that is the strength of our community. We need to recognize that public articulation of dissent and disagreement is a sign of health in a democratic society. In expressing and acknowledging our disagreements we call for respect, civility, and nonviolence. Let us use this anniversary of Sept. 11 to recommit re·com·mit tr.v. re·com·mit·ted, re·com·mit·ting, re·com·mits 1. To commit again. 2. To refer (proposed legislation, for example) to a committee again. to healing and community building, to embracing diversity, and to seeking peaceful change which advances human rights for all and makes us a more democratic and stronger community. ANDREA ORTIZ, Chair Eugene Human Rights Commission Eugene Another day of infamy Notoriety; condition of being known as possessing a shameful or disgraceful reputation; loss of character or good reputation. At Common Law, infamy was an individual's legal status that resulted from having been convicted of a particularly reprehensible crime, rendering him Today I'm thinking back over 60 years to another day that stunned America: Dec. 7, 1941. Early in the morning, Japanese carriers launched 350 planes against our military forces in and around Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The enemy destroyed or damaged 18 navy ships and 300 aircraft. On that Sunday, 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 were wounded. Like that horrible day one year ago, Dec. 7 changed America overnight. Immediately we were in World War II. My life also changed. At first, I continued high school because I was too young to go in the service. But I quit in my senior year to go in the Army. I was a gunner in the 9th Armored Division Ar´mored division 1. (Mil.) a division of a land army which is equipped with armored vehicles such as tanks or armored personnel carriers. , serving nine months of combat in Europe. Through the G.I. Bill The G.I. Bill (officially titled the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944) provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs or G.I.s) as well as one year of unemployment compensation. , I was able to attend Vanport College (now Portland State University) and the University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. , where I graduated. I became a middle school teacher and taught 30 years. When President D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, he called Dec. 7 "a day of infamy." Now we have another one. FRANK WALSH Hon. Francis Henry “Frank” Walsh (6 July 1897 – 18 May 1968) was the 34th Premier of South Australia, serving from 10 March 1965 to 1 June 1967. One of eight children, Walsh was born into an Irish Catholic family in O'Halloran Hill, South Australia. Eugene No sense of vindication The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center will be remembered by my generation the same way Pearl Harbor is by my parents' generation. On the first anniversary of the Pearl attacks, there was no time for reflection. Car factories were making tanks. Toaster See intranet toaster and Video Toaster. (jargon) toaster - 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see elevator controller). factories were making bombs. The entire nation was involved in the war effort. Everywhere was the war cry: "Remember Pearl Harbor" With Sept. 11 there is no obvious enemy, just a faction. We could not avenge those we lost with a feeling of gratification. So one year later, the so-called leader of these attacks is still at large and the feel of vindication has eluded our grasp. It's like getting stung by a yellow jacket yellow jacket: see wasp. yellow jacket Any of 35–40 species (genus Dolichovespula or Vespula) of social wasps, principally of the Northern Hemisphere, named for the black bands on its yellow abdomen. and not being able to squish squish v. squished, squish·ing, squish·es v.tr. To squeeze or crush together or into a flat mass; squash. v.intr. To emit the gurgling or sucking sound of soft mud being walked on. it. With the reliving of the tower collapses and lost of life after a year, the feeling of payback (an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth) just isn't there for me. PAUL PIERSON Paul Pierson (born 1959) is an American political scientist, noted for his research on comparative public policy and political economy, the welfare state, and American political development. Eugene Understanding is stronger If the U.S. did not know ahead of time about the attack, we have learned a painful, costly lesson: that the U.S. is vulnerable as well as strong, no matter how much some might wish to believe otherwise. I hope that we learned empathy so that when we hear about horrible things in some far-off land - 3,000 people being killed in an earthquake, for example - we have a better understanding of, and therefore more empathy toward, what the survivors are experiencing. If the U.S. knew of the attacks and did not attempt to stop them, for whatever reasons, ithan at the very least it is clear that terrible choices are being made by those in charge. On a personal level, the events of Sept. 11 have strengthened my understanding that we are indeed one planet, indivisible INDIVISIBLE. That which cannot be separated. 2. It is important to ascertain when a consideration or a contract, is or is not indivisible. When a consideration is entire and indivisible, and it is against law, the contract is void in toto. 11 Verm. 592; 2 W. , and my commitment to act on this understanding. MERRIE SENNETT Eugene CAPTION(S): Mail letters to Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Fax: 338-2828 E-mail: RGLetters@guardnet.com |
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