With all of the shouting and media coverage of the demise of Osama bin Laden, perhaps the most poignant and important response after the announcement by President Obama, came from a woman named Carie Lemack, whose mother, Judy Larocque, was on American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the North Tower between the 94th and 99th floor, imploding on impact, its 24,000 gallons of jet fuel.
Since that awful day in September, 2001, Carie has been promoting the Global Survivors Network, which supports victims and survivors of terrorism around the world, and is on the advisory board of Families of September 11, Inc., which is a nonprofit organization founded in October 2001 by families of those who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
She spoke live on CNN this morning, and as opposed to many of the individuals interviewed about how they responded to the news of death of Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the tragedy, Carie’s measured and compassionate response struck me as profoundly insightful and relevant to how we, as Americans and as human beings, ought to be moving forward now, in view of the events of the last ten years.
She spoke of the terrible sadness created by both the attack on the United States, and by our conduct in response to the attack. We could not simply stand by and do nothing, but the loss of almost three thousand victims of the attack, and of the almost twenty-five hundred military personnel lost in the campaign against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan called, “Enduring Freedom,” should inspire every human being to seek “a world in which differences are not settled by senseless killing,” but by working through our differences through other non-violent means.
When asked, “What is the most important work ahead that you will be working on?” Carie responded by saying:
“I work with victims of terrorism around the globe to help them speak out against terrorism–and we want to our voice to be louder than those who advocate for terrorism.”
http://www.familiesofseptember11.org/whoweare.aspx
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm0508/feature_lemack.shtml
God Bless America…….and all who defend her.
John H.
John's Consciousness 