"Too soon? This story never stopped."

Apr. 21 - The quote in the title of this post is from Deroy Murdock's concluding sentence in his review of the movie Flight 93 and the sentiment of that sentence started another train of thought.

I will probably cry during the movie but those tears will be not only of grief but also of gratitude and joy - joy that, on one very dark day, some very ordinary and very determined people united to perform a heroic act that earned them a place beside some other ordinary yet determined people who were later immortalized by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, or leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

The story of those aboard Flight 93 isn't a new one but one that began in the 18th century - in fact, the Minutemen mark the beginning of the American nation. We are formed in the knowledge that those who stood at that Concord bridge as well as on Boston Commons were, as are most of us today, not military types but everyday folk - farmers, shopkeepers, printers and local businessmen - who found within themselves a resolve to stand firm for liberty.

That legacy passed to the crews and passengers aboard Flight 93 and they did not shirk. Their example will long remain a flame of inspiration in our hearts and, should we find ourselves in a like situation, will serve to strengthen our hearts and lend clarity to our minds as we too, in their memory, seize whatever means are at hand to fight those who would try to destroy us.

Too soon? More like long overdue.

(National Review link via Newsbeat1)

Posted by: Debbye at 02:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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