Millions of people will do some significant remembering next Monday, the 5th anniversary of 9/11. I must confess I'm a little surprised at the amount of attention this anniversary is getting. I don't know if this is a media-driven thing or if I still am not grasping just how jarring this event was to our nation. Maybe some of both.
What really struck me today, though, was in reading about what happened on today's date 66 years ago. This is from the Writer's Almanac (www.writersalmanac.publicradio.org):
"It was on this day in 1940 that the German Luftwaffe began dropping bombs on London, in what became known as the London Blitz. On the first night, 600 German bombers came in waves, dropping explosive and incendiary devices over East London. St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Lambeth Palace, Piccadilly, and the House of Commons were all hit. And that was just the first night.
"Over the next eight months, Nazis dropped tens of thousands of bombs on the city. At one point during the bombing raids, Germans attacked every night for fifty-seven consecutive nights. In addition to London, they bombed fifteen other British cities. By the end, more than 30,000 Londoners had been killed, and more than 100,000 houses were destroyed."
As awful as 9/11 was, I simply can't comprehend being bombed 57 nights in a row. It put a few things in perspective for me. That, and the fact that dozens/hundreds of Iraqis are dying every day due to various forms of conflict. The war over there has been so wrong.
If you think of it, pray for my cousin Tyler, a Marine who's serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. Thanks.
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