Comments Posted By Richard Riley
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IT'S TIME: MEDALS OF HONOR FOR THE PASSENGERS OF FLIGHT #93
Bailey? I don't know where you're living, but in Los Angeles, there are plenty of people who opposed the invasion of Afghanistan. Remember all the breathless punditry that warned that we were unprepared for the bitter Afghan winters? That those mountains had swallowed every army from Alexander the Great to the USSR?
I've actually seen the film (early cut) and it's extraordinary. It's important that 93 not go down the memory hole. But if I was waiting to see, say, Ice Age 2 and this trailer came up, I'd be upset. The film left me crying for a couple of days. I don't think I could enjoy a regular movie after being hit with the trailer.
Comment Posted By Richard Riley On 4.04.2006 @ 23:42
I've said the same thing for years.
1) The passengers WERE in the military. They were the unorganized Militia, like those at Lexington and Concord. As George Mason, one of the framers of the Constitution said "Who are the Militia? They consist now of the whole people, except for a few public officers."
2) The MOH has been awarded to a civilian in the past. http://www.medalofhonor.com/TheOnlyWoman.htm. Dr. Mary Walker was a civilian, an assistant surgeon with the 52nd Ohio Infantry. She received the award on Jan. 24, 1866, it was withdrawn after WW1 and restored by President Carter on June 11, 1977. Today, it's on display in the Pentagon's women's corridor.
3) Never have so many owed so much to so few. The acts of those on board 93 may well have saved Congress itself.
4) We send soldiers into battle well prepared. They have training, equipment, intelligence and support. Those on board U93 had nothing. They were ordinary men and women. Untrained, unarmed civilians, thrust into battle without notice. They organized, got intelligence and counterattacked with nothing but their fists and fingernails. Because of them, the era of Bin Ladin lasted 90 minutes.
5) The Gold Medal actually has a longer history than the MOH - it was created by Congress for George Washington. But in our time, it's become a lifetime achievement award for celebreties and public servants. John Wayne, Betty Ford, Danny Thomas and Rosa Parks are all wonderful, deserving people. But they died in their beds.
6) In addition to military honors, I believe that the battle for Flight 93 should be remembered as that - a battle. We name ships for battles (There were 5 USS Lexingtons from 1776 to 1943). I think it is proper that a ship of the line be named for this battle - the first of the 21st century, and the first to be waged against a foreign agressor within the United States.
Comment Posted By Richard Riley On 4.04.2006 @ 19:58
BLOOD IS THICKER THAN POLITICS
I've just one thing to ask, of Terry and the rest of the WHPC (especially Elisabeth Bumiller)
Have you no shame?
Comment Posted By Richard Riley On 19.05.2005 @ 01:53
