OFF the BEAT
ROBERT L. SPINKS, MA, MS
COMMENTATOR
A DAY THAT CHANGED AMERICA FOR EVER Published on Wed, Sept 14, 2011 by Robert Spinks, MA, MS http://www.sequimgazette.com/spinks This past weekend marked the 10th Anniversary of the Terrorist Attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and on United Flight 93 that became part of the farmlands of Stonycreek Township in Pennsylvania.
many credible attacks. Most of this work goes on silently; as most of us start each day reading our newspaper having our first cup of coffee unaware of the work that goes on to make our country safe. Introspection
The weekend had memorials, TV specials, and articles that were poignant and painful. On Sunday, Sequim Police Chief Bill Dickenson, and Sequim Police Officers Darrell Nelson and Randy Kellas completed a 6,000 mile round trip to bring home to Sequim our own piece of the World Trade Center. That was a project I started a couple years ago when I made application to have Sequim receive a piece of Ground Zero. A tip of the hat goes to Dickenson, Nelson and Kellas for bringing a piece of New York City home to Sequim. In recent days, New York and Washington, D.C., suffered under the haze of "a specific, credible but unconfirmed report that al-Qaida, again, is seeking to harm Americans and in particular, to target New York and Washington," according to the US State Department. Usually, the public never gets to see the intelligence, the threat data or the interdiction of these threats. Over the past 10 years I have sat through intelligence briefings from a host of federal agencies with a lot of alphabet names. Some of those briefings and the intelligence that was shared was scary and was very real. Fortunately, many, many people working across the US and around the world have intercepted
Sunday, I sat and watched on TV as Paul Simon sang „The Sounds of Silence‟ at Ground Zero. That was a song I grew up with, but it now has a totally different meaning for me. It was written in February 1964 by Simon in the aftermath of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Now listening to Simon sing this song in tribute to 9/11, I realized that this was a song written about the 9/11 attacks . . . it was just written 40 years in advance. The song begins with: “Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence” Another amazing realization; watching one of the 9/11 Special‟s I was struck by a fact I never knew. The evacuation of Manhattan Island on 9/11 involved the largest seaborne evacuation in all of mankind. In just 9 hours, 500,000 people were evacuated from the island
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by boat. Every kind of boat, ferry and tug imaginable. The evacuation of Dunkirk in WWII involved just 399,000 over a nine day period. Amazing! No Easy Target Many countries suffer car bombings, train bombings, RPG rocket attacks against cruise ships, and shootings on an almost routine basis. These are attacks that rarely make it to any front page in America. Unlike the traditional wars of past generations, todays challenges remain harder to identify and root out. There‟s not a specific country or axis powers that are clearly identified and easy to attack. We see terrorist groups that ebb and flow across the borders of countries and which may or may not be state sponsored or supported. US troops continue to be drawn down in Iraq. From an invasion peak of 165,000 to a target later this year of 3,000 to 18,000 depending on final deployment decisions yet to be made. Afghanistan has over 130,000 coalition forces that include 90,000 US troops, according to the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF). All US troops are scheduled to leave by 2014; drawdowns of 10,000 troops in 2011 and another 23,000 troops will follow in 2012, according to the White House.
ensure that part of 9/11‟s legacy is that it made us all more compassionate and caring. When people reach out, it reminds us that we can still have this incredible measure of control – maybe not to singlehandedly fix things but to make a small difference that can become something larger. “ You can learn more about how you can make a difference by going to SERVE.GOV on the Internet. We know that freedom is not free, that it comes with a price; sometimes a very high price that has been borne by civilians and military members over the history of our country. I end this column just as Paul Simon ends „The Sounds of Silence,‟ “And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, „The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls‟ And whispered in the sounds of silence”
God bless the United States of America, its citizens and all those who strive to protect her.
More? This past weekend we remember and recognize the 2,977 war victims of September 11, 2001 and the thousands of military and civilian victims of terrorism that followed over the past decade. The President of the United State has called upon all Americans to participate in our nation‟s recovery and renewal by serving in our communities. By encouraging Americans to participate in service and remembrance activities on the 9/11 anniversary, family members of the victims of the terrorist attacks wanted to provide a productive and respectful way to honor those who perished and rekindle the spirit of unity and compassion that swept over our nation after 9/11 to help meet the challenges we face today.
Robert Spinks is former Sequim chief of police and Interim City Manager. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Sequim Senior Activity Center and the Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP),is a volunteer Manager at KSQM 91.5 FM and an Adjunct Faculty member at Everest University. Reach him at robertbythebay@aol.com .
NBC News anchor Lester Holt wrote a piece that appeared this past weekend in USA Weekend, “There is no sugarcoating the events of 9/11. But those horrible days led to some of America‟s proudest moments. If we could all recommit ourselves to looking out for one another just as we did in those dark days, we could Page 2 of 2