Wednesday, September 11, 2002
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Close to home
Last Sunday we went to Mass at a nearby Catholic church, with the expectation that it would become our new home church. It is a very large facility, with a school and extensive facilities, and the chapel was packed. did enjoy the Mass for the most part, except that I was disturbed by some aspects of the sermon, and hope that it was just that one day and one priest (the church has 5).
It was also an imposing looking building, but when we drove up, I was surprised by the presence of a couple of dozen cheaply built crosses dotting the otherwise immaculate and well-landscaped gounds. They were nailed together out of firring strips, and had dime-store flags taped to them. They added nothing to the ambiance, I thought.
When we got out of the car, we walked close enough to some of these crosses to note that the was something taped to the center of each one. Upon closer inspection, each bore a name, and under the name was the word "Pentagon".
It then hit me like a kick in the pants. This church was a bout 2 miles away from the Pentagon itself, and many people who live around here work there. These crosses all represented friends, neighbors, and parishoners who had attended that very church and were lost that day one year ago. To the people in this congregation, this was not something that happened miles away or on tv, this happened in their neighborhood to people they knew.
It looks a little different from up close.
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Comments (7)
My husband teaches school a mile from the Pentagon. Many of the students at his school have parents who work at the Pentagon.
It is much different from up close. No matter how hard it hit everyone everywhere else, being here or in New York on 9/11 was just different.
Hubby and I drive by the Pentagon every day after work. There was nothing so demoralizing as seeing that gaping black hole and the melted glass in the windows surrounding it. Watching that hole disappear has been a source of strength.
Welcome to DC Metro.
Even in this little town, we lost someone in the Pentagon. He grew up here. His mother is still living on the family farm just outside of town.
His funeral was held here in Luck. It was an amazing day - to see our little town of 1000 people doubled in size as people traveled here, to the middle of nowhere, to lay Lt. Col. Dean Mattson to rest.