On November 11 each year, the British Commonwealth observes Remembrance Day, honoring members of the armed forces killed in the line of duty. And "at the 11th hour of the 11th day," they share a moment of silence—in London, where I happened to be working on Remembrance Day quite a few years ago—it lasts for two minutes. I was in a conference room with just one other person, meeting about magazine production, when something (can't remember exactly what) signaled this moment of national remembrance. Everything came to a halt. My British colleague explained what was going on and, for a moment, tried to continue with our meeting since we were the only ones in the room. But then he stopped and said, "We really should observe the silence." So there we were—a couple of strangers from different countries, sitting silently in a conference room for two minutes, honoring fallen service men and women. Britain has been doing that since the end of World War I. And I couldn't help comparing it to our own remembrances. We honor our American veterans each November 11, but how often have we stopped, as an entire country, and silently remembered together, even for two minutes?
I think it's our nature to look forward. Americans tend to believe that tomorrow can and will be better. And that's a good thing. But the downside of optimism is a short memory. We want to put bad times behind us and look to the future.
What sparked the memory of that two-minute silence in London was another 11 in our shared past—September 11, 2001. While we can't constantly dwell on that awful day, we shouldn't forget it either. We should always honor the fallen—the innocent people in the towers who thought they were just going to work that day; the firemen and other first responders who sacrificed their own lives trying to save others; the military families who continue to sacrifice for us today.They deserve to be remembered—by all of us.
[Image by Beverly Omalley @ Freerangestock.com]
Comments