On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial aircraft with the intent of inflicting a catastrophic attack on the United States. Two of the jets were flown into the twin towers of The World Trade Centre, one was flown into the Pentagon and one never reached its target as passengers resisted the terrorists forcing the jet to crash in a field in Pennsylvania.
Budweiser ran this commercial only once in January 2002. It wasn't to promote their products, it was to pay respect to those who died in New York City on 9/11. It says everything that needs to be said without words.
The total number of casualties that day is not known. Estimates range between 2,966 and 6,000 with many still not officially identified.
It was a horror on such a scale that it made the entire world stop and watch as it unfolded.
It is right that people around the globe stop and remember what happened that day and pay tribute to those who lost their lives. But we should remember something else too.
That morning united us. First responders made heroic efforts to rescue those who were trapped in the rubble and some of them lost their lives in the effort. Courage was demonstrated on United Airlines Flight 93 by the passengers who revolted knowing it would cost their lives to prevent the highjackers from achieving their objective.
People from other countries rushed to the United States to help in whatever way they could and we mourned as one people around the world.
We were united by a tragedy and we were stronger then than we are now.
We are divided now and it has caused us to forget who we are and what we can achieve together. We have forgotten that those with whom we argue today stood beside us in the aftermath of 9/11. On that day we were not Republicans or Democrats, Conservatives or Liberals. We were not Americans or Canadians or Germans, Dutch or British. We were people standing together to face a common adversity. On this anniversary of that terrible tragedy, I believe the greatest tribute we can pay to those who died, is to remember that again.
I believe that more than our words or our tears, that is how we can best pay tribute and show our respect for them. It isn’t enough that we take one day a year to honour those who died.
We should honour them by remembering who we are and by how we live together every day.
We should honour them by remembering who we are and by how we live together every day.
© 2012 Maggie's Bear
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2001
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteBest commercial EVER! I still tear up when I watch it. Thank you for the post Bear.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you although I don't think of it as a commercial. It represents something we often forget; that in times of great adversity, we're all on the same side....even the corporations. In the end, we are all just people and we lose sight of that sometimes.
DeleteWhat utter dribble! Trust me, I'm not on the side of corporate America. EVER!
ReplyDeleteThat's ok. We all have our prejudices. I, for example, don't ever support sanctimonious, self-righteous fools and trolls.
DeleteWatched the coverage of the 11th anniversary this morning. Pathetic. The networks couldn't wait to get back to their entertainment news. They barely made it to the moment of silence and that was a minute of looking at Obama and Michelle standing for a moment and hurrying back into the White House. Of coure 9/11 is all about Obama and no shots of New York City or any other coverage (one of the networks did have a brief shot of the ringing of a firestation bell in N.Y.C.).
ReplyDeleteWe're losing our perspective and along with it, our decency as a society. When we cannot stand together for one day to honour those who died, we cannot stand together to accomplish anything. That attitude is exemplified in the stupid comment above.
DeleteObama exemplifies the new order,if something happened in the past,and cannot be exploited for his gain, it's not important.
ReplyDeleteCritics of George W.Bush can rave all they want, but on that day,I was damned glad he was President, not his political opponent.
Sanctimonious, self-righteous?? LOL! Self awareness isn't your strong suit!
ReplyDeleteClearly you have mistaken me for someone who has much respect for your adolescent arrogance and what it causes you to think. The world is full of people like you, people who have nothing to contribute and who are incapable of informed and respectful debate so they troll the Internet looking for others to criticize. What a sad little life that must be. Feel free to drop by any time, your comments always give me a chuckle.
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