DATE OF INFAMY: To anyone alive in America on Sept. 11, 2001,
this is surely a “date that will live in infamy” – to borrow FDR’s
description of the attack on Pearl Harbor. We remember watching the
television news in horror, and then calling in members of the news
staff to begin preparing local coverage of this tragedy.
That carried with it a presumption – not at all certain at the
time – that there would be a continuity of the United States as we
knew it. It would be a day or two before we had any comfort at all
that the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were the only
assaults we would endure – for that time being.
While we’ll never regain that pre-911 “innocence,” most
Americans have adapted to a new way of thinking as we go forward.
OPEN HOUSE: The number of veterans in McKean County is
astonishing. And, so, the open house for the McKean VA clinic
scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow is no small thing.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house at the new clinic
location inside Old City Hall will provide an opportunity for
veterans and the public to meet the staff of this clinic which
opened about six months ago.
Staff members will also be on hand to discuss eligibility and
enrollment in the VA health system; behavioral health; women’s
health; My HealthE Vet; and the OEF/OIF Program.
Refreshments will be served.
We understand that many of the American Legion and VFW posts in
McKean County will be represented at this occasion.
This would be a good opportunity for vets to see what’s
available right here in Bradford.
TODAY’S QUOTES: Our Freedom Forum calendar gives this advice for
Sept. 11, 2009: “If we try to resolve terrorism with military might
and nothing else, then we will be no safer than we were before
9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need
to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with
books, not with bombs.” So said Greg Mortenson, founder, Central
Asia Institute, 2007.
Speaking of quotes, even today, eight years later, we are
astonished that one of our quote calendars from 2001 gave this
comment from Nena O’Neill on Sept. 12: “Out of every crisis comes
the chance to be reborn.”
