The Explorers Club
№ CCLII - The World Trade Center, completed 1973, destroyed 2001.









Operation AXIOM: United We Stand
Ten years ago to the day, 11 September 2001, four American airliners were hijacked by nineteen agents of the ruthless terrorist organization known by the name al Qaeda. Within hours, all four airliners had crashed: American Airlines Flight 11 was rammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center; United Airlines Flight 175 was rammed into the South Tower; American Flight 77 was rammed into the Pentagon; & United Flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, apparently as a result of the passengers & crew attempting to retake control of the aeroplane. Thousands perished. The landscape of the greatest city in the world was changed forever. The United States of America, the only nation ever to have used atom bombs in anger, was at war. The course of the decade to follow, both for good & for ill, was in large measure set by the stunning events of that beautiful September morning.

I listened to N.P.R.'s coverage of the commemorations in Old New Amsterdam, metropolitan D.C., & Shanksville, Pa. as I motored back from Where's Teddy?'s house. Once home, I watched yesterday's qualifying rounds for the Formula One Gran Premio d'Italia; I hope to watch the grand prix itself later this evening. I think it important both to mark this day with solemnity & mourning & to spend the day carrying on with our everyday lives; we must remember our past, but we will not have the conduct of ours lives dictated by the evil souls who planned & perpetrated that day's outrages. I hope all those eyes fall upon these lines were able to spend this tenth anniversary of the darkest day your humble narrator has ever witnessed in the comforting embrace of family. May the Lord protect & defend you & yours. May the Lord protect & defend our great republic & the freedom for which she stands.

As we said in the days after 9/11, a truth to which we should hold fast even in the midst of our bitterest internal political arguments, united we stand.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "God Bless America/You're a Grand Old Flag" from Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: As patriotic songs go, "God Bless America" isn't one of my favorites, but by popular acclamation it is the unofficial anthem of 9/11 & was sung far, wide, & often in the uncertain days after the horrifying attacks ten years hence.