March 16, 2006
Who Is This Man?
Who can forget this photo from 9/11 (although some wish it would go away)? It was taken by Richard Drew of the AP.
For years, many have wondered who he was. Tom Junod, writing for Esquire, speculated that it might be Jonathan Briley, an employee of Windows on the World.
Michelle Malkin has more on this incredible story. Some think this kind of speculation is ghoulish. It's not. It's important to put names and faces to the people who died on that day -- lest we forget what they suffered and we forget what we continue to face.
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The problem is every elected Democrat is trying so hard to forget each and everyone of the 3,000 that died 9/11/01. Many of these same Democrats are running from their actions and words that emboldened Bin Laden to go through with is plan. Time to reward these Democrats with unemployment.
Posted by: PCD at March 16, 2006 11:07 AMEven if we never know his name, we was somebody's son.
He may have been someone's Dad, uncle, brother, cousin, husband, lover, or all of these.
Other possible identities: Friend, co-worker, employee, maybe he was the one to bring a smile to his co-workers with his humor, maybe he was the quiet one in the corner. Maybe he was the one that took the time to make coffee in the morning before his co-workers arrived.
What were his hobbies? His passions? Was there a project that he intended to do or finish before he life was over? Did he get a chance to see the Grand Canyon, or was that trip for next year?
Did he say goodbye that morning to loved ones, or did he just quietly slip out the door, so as not to awaken anyone else, or was he in a rush to catch a commuter train and forgot to say goodbye?
Yes, it makes us uncomfortable to see this photo and think about it, but we must, lest we forget.
Lest we forget.
Posted by: joe-6-pack at March 16, 2006 05:19 PMThere was a show aired the other day about how they found out the identity of the falling man.
The lengths the interviewer went to, speaking to the staff etc, informing families that it definately wasn't their son etc. Fascinating.
In a strange way, he looked so calm as he fell - as if he had accepted death and was just enjoying the ride. I doubt it, but it is nice to think it.
What does it say about us, as a country, to realize that millions of us have already forgotten what happened that day?
My mother-in-law is a wonderful woman--a smart, compassionate, hard-working Depression era farm girl who's made a great success out of her long life. She's traveled the world, including Japan, and enjoyed it all. But her late brother-in-law served on the USS New Orleans at Guadalcanal (he had to wade into the flooded forward compartments to retrieve the bodies of his shipmates), and to this day I can hear her voice harden when she talks about the Japanese.
They were the Greatest Generation, but that doesn't mean they were all saints--they just did what they had to do. I'm not so sure our generation will.
Posted by: Jeff at March 17, 2006 11:59 PM
