Ten years ago this morning, 168 people were killed in what was, at the time, considered the worst terrorist attack ever committed on American soil.
If you're anything like me, you knew what today's date was but not what it meant.
My, how things have changed.
In a world post-Sept. 11, 2001, it's frightening to think how simply the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City has become nothing more than a distant trail of news stories long ago. Few remember where they were and even fewer can really remember the effect the incident had on their lives.
For our generation, it was one of the first major attacks on our soil that we would remember -- second to the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. The Murrah Building attack was a horrifying shock to the country and the residents of the city. No one expected such a hellish attack to be carried out under our noses. (Little did we know, the leaders of Al Qaeda had bigger things in mind.)
Nineteen children were among the dead in the wreckage of the Murrah Building, while countless more were injured. A daycare on the second floor of the building assisted working parents during the day. In fact, of all the photos from the incident, the image of a fire fighter cradling a debris-covered infant remains the most widely recognized to this day.
There were children who survived that day, although their memories of the incident are limited to the knowledge that friends, family and media can provide. They're growing up now, the oldest around 15, according to an update written by Arnold Hamilton of The Dallas Morning News.
Most of the children, Hamilton reports, were too young to remember the incident.
"I'm glad I don't remember it," survivor Joe Webber, 11, said, despite the scar down the left side of his face.
He considers himself lucky to not remember it, as he should -- not everyone has that luxury.
On the other side of that pain are the children whose parents died in attack.
Their scars, contrary to the youth above, are internal. Their memories are absent as well -- lacking not only the horrifying memories of a bomb blast, but more importantly, times with their parents. Despite their flawless physical appearance, they'd probably give any part of their body to recall those days and times that existed 10 years and one day ago.
They can't, though -- and so they continue to deal.
Jim Denny, whose two children survived in the rubble of the day care that morning, said his family is "about as normal as normal can be -- whatever normal is," according to the Morning News article.
"We have our own normal," Claudia Denny said.
It's not the normal we know.
It goes to show that in times of need and national pain or attention, our sympathy carries us far. However, though most of us recover quickly from the experience, for others, recovery is never a part of their vocabulary, no matter how hard they try. As the memories and images of Sept. 11 slip subtly into our heads, it's unsettling to think that yet another generation will soon be going through the exact same feeling.
On Sept. 11, 2011, will we be as absent minded as we are on today's anniversary? If so, what will that say about us?
Those untied to these events carry on, but it's important that we always remember those who have suffered for the rights we all treasure, even all these years later.
For us, it's just another day, and we should be thankful that's all we know it as. Because this morning, we can't imagine what another day feels like in Oklahoma City.
Ten years ago today, they didn't know any better, either.
Write to Dave at
heydave@bewilderedsociety.com
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