We Remember Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Every September 11th since that horrible one in 2001, I, and, I am sure many of you, cannot help but reflect on the fragility of life and the the evil that still exists among mankind.

Every year, I inundate myself with documentaries because I am afraid I will forget how I felt that day, and, after visiting Dachau in Germany, I have a compulsion to continue to remind myself of history's greatest tragedies. If you haven't already seen it, The Falling Man, which has been airing on Discovery Times, it is a wonderful documentary that makes the point that the photo of the man falling from one of the towers is 9/11's version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Many have tried to identify this man, and none have done so conclusively.

The point is not who this man is, the point is he is the human face of this great tragedy. We have all watched United 175 fly into the second tower over and over on our TV screens. What is that really? It is steel, concrete, airplane fuel, glass, and many other materials meeting to cause the catastrophic events none of us will forget. It is not, however, a portrait of the humanity behind the day.

The documentary makes the point that, after the first day this photo ran worldwide, there was so much outrage that it was never seen again in print. It was viewed as a private moment showing the horrid decision the man had to make, and should not be printed for the world to see. It was, to many, a moment that should not be shot around the world on the news wires. This photo, that, to me, humanizes the day, was simply erased from the media and thus, our collective minds. I wonder how many of you even know exactly which photo I am referring to when I mention "The Falling Man".

Perhaps I am so drawn to this photo because it reminds me of another one from a tragedy that personally touched me, the Oklahoma City bombing. As most of you know, I was in a macro economics class in Oklahoma City when the bomb went off and I heard it and felt it. The photo that emerged that day that still symbolizes that day for the world was one of a small child, a toddler, really, Baylee, being cradled in the arms of a Firefighter. Baylee was dead. She was one of the children in the daycare center in the Murrah Building that had absolutely no chance of survival. This picture remains in the public consciousness, yet The Falling Man has not been allowed to.

I will not post The Falling Man photo here as I believe we all have the right and responsibility to remember all those who died so senselessly in whatever way we choose. I choose to watch many documentaries every year, you may choose to take a moment of silence. I choose to embrace The Falling Man as the photo that illustrates the people involved in a horrible decision making process that played out before our eyes.

Whatever you do, please, don't forget. Never forget how you felt on that day, and never forget the thousands of lives that were extinguished and their friends and family who continue to cope with the aftermath of that horrible day.

I will never allow myself to forget you, even though I didn't know any of you personally. Godspeed.