United 93 film

United 93 started showing in theaters last week. I had seen the trailer on the Internet last month. It gave me chills. My wife, standing behind me, was in tears. Each of us will react different to the theatrical retelling of that traumatic day. 9/11 holds a special place in our history because of the shared trauma we all experienced. I remember that day well and the feeling that events were beyond my control. As the morning turned into afternoon no city in America knew if they would be next. So we waited, watching our TV screens until the early morning hours. We were waiting for the “all clear” signal that never came. The good news that everything would be all right and those that did this would be brought to justice seemed just out of reach. So we waited, because that was all we could do. In the days that followed we began to miss the buzz of airplane engines that once filled our skies and it became clear that our nation might never be the same. Days turned into months and whatever emotional pain I had from that day was pushed aside for more mundane duties of life going on. Besides how could I or any of us say we were “victims” of 9/11 in relation to those that truly suffered terrible loss.
Now 5 years have passed and we are no further in dealing with the emotional trauma of that day. In order to heal as a nation we need to look once again at the day we all lived and integrate it into ourselves. We all must mourn the loss of security and safety we once were so sure of. Few of us were directly involved or touched by the events of 9/11 but we were all hurt that day. The damage may seem minor compared to others, but no matter how slight the pain it’s a wound that we all share. A collective scare that we all carry together can only be healed when we address it as whole. I think this film is a good place to start the process. Go see this film and remember who and what we lost. Remember what you felt that day and mourn the passing of the world we had before. 9/11 will be a part of our national story forever. However, the pain we felt on that day doesn’t have to be with us as long as the memory.