Remembering 9-11

Published in Waking Up on the Planet

Wake-Up Call: Remembering Well

By Karen M. Jones

It's not too early to begin thinking about how you might like to remember those who lost their lives or sustained permanent injury -- including mental and emotional trauma -- on September 11, 2001. The Pentagon is thinking about it. Its leaders have established a "Freedom Walk" that, according to The Washington Post, is "billed as a memorial to victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks and a show of support for those serving in the military." (Emphasis mine.)

Once again, the administration is trying to link the emotionally charged events of September 11 with its war policies, making it seem like response to one is support of the other. Most Americans do support our troops, whether or not they condone the current war. But there is absolutely no relationship between what happened on September 11 and the fight in Iraq; the U.S. went to war to find weapons of mass destruction, remember? And many of us would like to remember and honor the victims and their families without saluting U.S. military might in the process.

The Freedom Walk shows bad judgment on many levels. The U.S. Defense Department is hardly an appropriate organizer for an observance that many around the nation associate with solemnity, humble reflection and prayers for peace. The Pentagon claims that, "as a nation, we didn't have a unified way to commemorate Sept. 11." Apparently they are unaware of One Day's Pay, a campaign established in 2002 to recognize 9/11 as a national day of service, charity and compassion; its sponsors include AT&T, JP Morgan Chase and Time Warner Cable.

In the hearts of most Americans and compassionate people around the world, the spirit of September 11 has nothing to do with soldiers, patriotism, nationalism or even freedom. It's about empathy, humanity, unity and healing. It doesn't need to be marketed with a tee shirt and musical "entertainment" by country singer Clint Black. As one man who lost his brother in the World Trade Center said, "There are 364 other days in the year that the Pentagon can ask America to support the troops. September 11 should be a day for honoring the dead, and the innocents." Another man whose wife died in the Pentagon attack agrees: "I'll go and support the troops any day, but I won't support the troops on the back of my wife's death."

I hope you'll consider honoring the occasion in the spirit of One Day's Pay, by lighting a candle, viewing the PBS documentary "Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero" (ask your library to order it), joining the Remember September mail art project, or with some other, similar act that expresses connection and compassion. If you are further moved, you may wish to write a letter to Allison Barber, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for communications, suggesting that they rethink the Freedom Walk. What shook our faith on September 11 -- and then drew us together in shared grief and hopeful recovery with people around the globe -- is too important to be hijacked in the name of a narrower vision. This event resonates in places no government can reach.

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