9/11, like most memorials forged from tragedy, is both a burden and an opportunity. Across the country this Friday, services will be held and fallen heroes remembered. But honoring their sacrifice doesn’t always mean looking backward. Here are four things you can do for the future.
1. Thank. 9/11 is one day, but each and every day, an American service member is taking life-threatening risks to protect your security. Saying thank you to the military men and women in harm’s way only takes a minute. Visit organization Let’s Say Thanks to pick and personalize a postcard from a wide selection of children’s patriotic sketches. Let’s Say Thanks then prints and delivers the postcard to a U.S. military member somewhere in the world. For other opportunities to serve those who serve you, visit www.supportourtroops.org.
Time: 5 minutes.
2. Donate. Citizens across the country are working to make 9/11 a national day of service, and you can join them by donating time or dollars. To find a service project in your community, or gather support for your own great idea, visit www.911dayofservice.org. If you are among the 20 percent of Americans living in a rural community, consider donating money to your local fire station or emergency response service. Rural emergency responders are usually volunteers, and departments can struggle to obtain the funding to keep equipment current. FEMA provides a nation-wide fire station guide with links to local websites and addresses (http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/applications/census/). Who knows – the life you save may be your own.
Time: 30 minutes or more, and a chance to meet the heroes who live in your neighborhood.
3. Prepare. The chance that you will face at least one major cataclysmic event in your life is high: around 91 percent of Americans live in locations that have risk factors for terrorism or natural disasters, such as flooding, wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes. Dangers like swine flu and other diseases put all Americans in jeopardy, regardless of location. Yet, many American households are still surprisingly unprepared for the worst. Folks who take precautions and stock up on water, food, and make a plan are refusing to be victims – and increasing their chances of survival. Preparedness in many circumstances can save lives, relieve the burden on emergency responders, help you assist others around you in need, and prevent panic. Web sites like Ready.gov and Really Ready (http://www.fas.org/reallyready/) outline useful planning steps and provide a simple list for your own emergency kit. Too busy to do it yourself? Visit preparedness.com to buy a ready-made kit. To better mentally prepare for a disaster, read Amanda Ripley’s hopeful and highly instructive narrative The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – And Why. Don’t be a victim!
Time: 45 minutes to an afternoon.
4. Remember. As most historic events do, 9/11 has slipped from the moorings of personal memory and into our national lore. Over the din of commission reports and war coverage, it is easy to forget the depth of personal suffering on that crisp fall day. Watching the television footage from 9/11 is a reminder that the future is never certain, and hindsight is not 20/20. This Friday, visit the Television Archive website and view the Today Show footage beginning at 8:31 am. Al Roper gives the weather report, an excited passerby cheers in Times Square, and Matt Lauer is in the middle of an interview when he pauses in confusion and says, “I think we have some footage coming in just now from the World Trade Center.” And then it is on screen: a tower on fire, and no one knows for sure what has happened. But at that moment both they and we realize the same thing: life will never be the same. 9/11 is a day to remember both what we lost and what we have. As St. Augustine said, “this awful catastrophe is not the end but the beginning. History does not end so. It is the way its chapters open.”
Online: Visit www.archive.org/details/sept_11_tv_archive#September11 to see footage from ABC, CBS, NBC, and others. Footage includes major network coverage from approximately 8:30 am to noon on 9/11/01.
DVD: Documentaries include 102 Minutes That Changed America, 9/11 – The Filmmakers’ Commemorative Edition, and In Memoriam, 9/11/01 (all available at Amazon.com).
TV: The major news networks usually replay the opening minutes 0f 9/11 on the anniversary. Check your newspaper for listings.
Time: About an hour.
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Skyla Freeman is a former writer for President George W. Bush. She blogs about style and culture at Sanity Fair online (sfair.blogspot.com).
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