Freedom Tower no more
One World Trade Center - formerly the "Freedom Tower" - as of February, 209
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have announced that the Freedom Tower – the new building to be erected over “Ground Zero” – will instead be named One World Trade Center. They are claiming that for commercial and leasing reasons, the new name is more marketable. They also announced that Vantone Industrial Co. has signed a 20.75 year lease ”that will create the China Center, a 190,810-square-foot business and cultural facility, to be on portions of the 64th floor and the entire 65th through 69th floors of One World Trade Center.”
I understand the practical business concerns, yet it is still a shot in the patriotic gut. This building is to be a sign of America’s triumph over terrorism, although honestly we have yet to triumph. We can maybe say that it is America’s response to the threat of terrorism, that we won’t back down and we will emerge stronger (and more beautiful) than before. I’m sure most of us can still see in our mind’s the moments when the U.S. stopped on 9/11. I can still remember walking into Family Dollar to buy a new lighter, first hearing on the radio as the second plane crashed into the towers. I asked the girl at the counter if that was some sort of sick joke, and she was hoping so. I walked back out to the car dazed, telling my friends “I think we’re under attack.”
I can still remember turning on the radio, changing it to every station I knew, just to hear the same results. We went back to my house and watched as it all unfolded, the news of the Pentagon, the news of the plane that crashed in Shanksville, PA. I remember thinking to myself that the south tower – the second one hit – was probably going to collapse. The hijacker drove that plane into the center of the building, and I just knew all of that heat and structural damage was going to make it go. I was just praying that the first one wouldn’t fall too.
I was one of the lucky ones who had no family or friends who were there. However, I had many friends who lost some family members or friends, and in some cases, an entire branch of a family tree was wiped out. I remember feeling the sadness for everyone, and the anger at those responsible. Feelings that solidified when we invaded Afghanistan and nearly eliminated the Taliban. Feelings that were warped to entrust us with the wisdom of invading Iraq.
This building and other memorials were to be our reminder of the strength we have as a people and a nation. A strength that screams that we refuse to give up but instead carry on stronger than we were before. A strength to make sure those who follow who will remember the willing sacrafice the heroes made, the victims who had no choice, and as a stark reminder that there are people out there who unmercifully kill because their priorities are not aligned with reality.
The Freedom Tower also reminded me of the poem I wrote shortly after the attack.
The day the Lady cried
She’s stood in pride
Our tears she’s cried
Through her eyes
She watched the demise
From the planes we fly
That ended their lives
Yet she still stands there
Without any fear
Keeping our love near
Our hope she hears
On this Fourth of July
We put forth our cry
And show them our pride
That our freedom will never die
For anyone who needs any reminders of what happened that day, there is a great write up of it on Wikipedia.
