Anniversary

There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

Lennon and MCartney, from In My Life (Rubber Soul)

At about this time of day in 2001 I took position on the couch and pretty much stayed there for a couple of days, as I had done 40 years earlier when the first Kennedy assassination stained our country.

As gut-wrenching as that murder was, watching the towers, with which I had become intimately familiar, come down with and on top of all those souls, on live TV, brought more tears to my eyes than the loss of a beloved president and hero had brought to a 14 year old boy.

When I was in travelling the country dealing in Rare Coins, I attended several years of bi-annual shows held in the Vista Hotel and booked my room there, nestled between the towers.

I would go up to Windows of the World at the cocktail hour but I'd get a little dizzy if I got real close to the windows themselves.

Today, gentle readers, I give you a gift of the late Jack Buck. He wrote this poem.
I'll give the link at the end if you'd like to see him read it on youtube.

Since this nation was founded under God,
more than 200 years ago,
We've been the bastion of Freedom...
The light which keeps the free world Aglow.
We do not covet the possessions of Others,
we are blessed with the Bounty we share.
We have rushed to help other Nations...
anything...anytime...Anywhere.
War is just not our nature...we
Won't start, but we will end the fight.
If we are involved we shall be
Resolved to protect what we know is Right.
We've been challenged by a Cowardly foe,
who strikes and then Hides from our view.
With one voice we say there's no Choice today,
there is only one Thing to do.
Everyone is saying the same thing
And praying that we end these Senseless moments we are living.
As our fathers did before, we shall Win this unwanted war.
And our children will enjoy the Future we'll be giving.

http://huggingharoldreynolds.blogspot.com/2009/09/jack-bucks-911-poem.html