Twenty Years Ago

My birthday came just six months before Pearl Harbor. I had no idea what that day meant if I even knew what day it was. As I grew up I heard many adults speak about the horror of the news on December 7, 1941. It changed the lives of many who experienced that day in one way or another. ¶ My childhood was spent in Rapid City with Ellsworth Air Force Base at our side door. The sound of bombers flying overhead was a near daily experience. One learned to just ignore the roar of the engines both prop and later, jet. We really didn’t know where the planes were headed but we assumed it had something to do with the war.

¶ In my junior high and high school years the cold war was raging. The airbase made us a highly vulnerable target. I volunteered to work at the Filter Center. It seems like a strange name but it describes what we did. We filtered flights. In those days radar could not pick up low flying, smaller aircraft. There were people who volunteered as spotters all around. Their job was to call in any aircraft that they could hear flying near them. The calls went to the filter center where we plotted the flights on a giant horizontal map. If it was not possible to identify the flight the airbase was alerted and fighter jets were sent up to intercept or identify the aircraft in question. ¶ We had a lot of training sessions. We had direct phone lines to the neighboring Filter Centers. Now, as I reflect, it was probably all the equipment that intrigued me. Nevertheless at that point in time we felt we were of value in our country’s fight against the aggressors, the Communist bloc. After putting in the required number of hours we received our wings. ¶ My parents told stories of wartime events, about the rationing of certain products, the victory gardens, the air raid drills (my parents were air raid wardens), the unavailability of certain products because they were needed for the war effort. ¶ It was a different kind of war that began on September 11, 2001. This one I remember clearly. A friend called and asked if I were watching the news. That is something I gave up some years before. I decided I’d better tune in. Just then the aircraft struck the second of the World Trade Towers. With the availability of movies and television shows constantly providing us with violence of any kind it took a bit of time for the enormity of the event to sink in. Was this real or was it fantasy? ¶ Then, with the constant replay of the event throughout the next days, it was difficult to sleep or to accomplish anything. The events were replayed over and over again. I finally realized what was happening to me. I needed to shut off the news and put the event in perspective.

¶ I had retired from teaching. The assistant principal from my last school assignment asked if I would come in and speak with the teachers who were having difficulty dealing with the whole thing, plus having to deal with the students who were affected as well. Probably the most important thing passed on to them was “turn off the news.” Several of the teachers thanked me for that advice. One simply cannot begin to heal when the traumatic event is being replayed hundreds of times each day. ¶ Today is the anniversary of 9/11. Traveler that I am I had never seen the “Twin Towers.” They had not been built when I was last in New York City. By the time I finally returned, they had been destroyed. I did see the aftermath of the event, and the last time there I visited the memorial which was very touching. It’s unusual and beautiful and calming. What was a scene of horrific destruction and loss of life has become a place of remembrance and peace. People automatically fall silent as they approach the place where the towers stood. They gaze at the names etched in the stone and hear the waterfall. Hopefully they offer a prayer for all those departed souls. May all who perished there rest in peace.

¶ Another chemo week has come and gone. Aside from the tiredness, things have gone well. It’s hard to tell if the exhaustion is from the chemo or from my perpetual lack of sleep, or both. Probably both. Along with the chemo I received my booster shot of the COVID vaccine. My oncologist thought I should get the booster right away, so I did. A sore arm was the only outcome. ¶ Sophia requested that I post a picture of her in her alert state. She’s commented on all the postings that show her asleep. She fears that people will think she does nothing but sleep. This week’s photo will put all those thoughts aright. ¶ Thanks for your kind words, your prayers and thoughts and all that you do for me and for others. May our country and all the nations of the world learn to live in peace and respect for one another.