I was wrong about 9/11 images

Sometimes, we let our emotions get the best of us.

Sometimes, we are just flat-out wrong.

I'm not sure what was at play most when I did a recent blog about the video and photo archive of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, but as I prepared an essay for my Utah Public Radio show, I realized that despite the harrowing emotions involved, we, indeed, must relive the events of that day, if for no other reason than to tell the story of what happened when a calm, beautiful morning in New York City was singed with the smoke of terror and the blood of innocents.

There is no way to soften the blow.

The first to point out that perhaps I should rethink the blog was my wife, Cara. She sees things, sometimes, that I don't; understands things, sometimes, that I can't; makes me think, sometimes, instead of simply react. Cara, you were right and I was wrong.


My dear friend Jud Burkett, multi-media editor at the newspaper where I last worked, responded to my blog. He disagreed with what I had to say. Now, you've got to understand that Jud isn't some hard-nosed, callous shooter. He's a very sensitive, talented guy. We worked together a lot over the years and his opinion always meant a lot to me. It still does, so, Jud, you were right, I was wrong.


There is no way to be honest, accurate, credible with this story without touching those same emotions that so wounded us on that day.

It would bear false witness to the tragedy that was Sept. 11, would disrespect the lives lost, the hearts shattered, the hope dashed. Horror, pain, disbelief, confusion, fear permeated that day. I heard it in the voices of the people I interviewed that day who were near the World Trade Center when the buildings came down, I saw it in the faces of everybody I knew, I felt it in my own soul.


I didn't, and don't, want to ever go to that place again. It was too much to bear, which is, perhaps, why my emotions and, I guess, skin-deep sensitivity led me to a conclusion that was ill-formed.


I still am not comfortable looking at images or videos from that day. But, I'm also sure I am not alone.


And, I certainly don't think it is appropriate today, as we prepare for the 10th anniversary of this tragedy, to politicize it in any way. All that would do is cheapen the sacrifices made by so many and take attention away from where it belongs: the victims, their families, our national psyche as we still, a decade later, try to come to grips with it all.


We probably won't, you know.