So what happened this year? Ironically, the days and dates in 2012 are exactly as they were in 2001, with September 11 falling on the Tuesday after the Richmond race. Did a tenth anniversary last year somehow erase the need to remember those that perished needlessly on that day? Has it become politically incorrect to remember or mention 9/11? Those things can and do happen in the world of politics, but I cannot recall a time when NASCAR thumbed its corporate nose at patriotism.
Shame on both NASCAR and Richmond International Raceway for ignoring this date and all it means to so many in this country! Though you chose to forget, the families of almost 3000 Americans still remember, on a daily, not a yearly basis. The very least you could have done was to acknowledge the date and say a prayer in their honor.
Ten years ago, I wrote a column recollecting the events of 9/11 from the prospective of one-year-out. It relates my memories of the day and brings the reader to 2002 and the way things were when Richmond came 'round that year. In keeping with the historic theme of RacersReunion and our mission to let the young fans know what has gone before, I offer part of that column here, in the context in which it was written.
As I read my own impressions of the Richmond race from 2002, it makes me wonder just where over the intervening ten years we changed direction. Somewhere in that time, we (NASCAR and America as a whole) have moved from “God Bless the USA” and “God BlessAmerica” to songs with lyrics that I can’t understand, sung by folks whosenames I don’t recognize, and our Anthem destroyed in the name of "talent" on a regular basis.
Please bring the Kleenex and share with me some memories...
When September 11, 2001 dawned, we of the racing world had just finished watching Ricky Rudd capture the short track at Richmond, and were looking forward, in varying degrees, to the next race at Loudon, New Hampshire, the site, just the year before, of the deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin.
A myriad of Winston Cup fans and I were still licking our wounds and trying hard to recover from the death, seven months prior, of the icon of stock car racing, Dale Earnhardt. At that point, I still believed that nothing in the world could make me feel lower. I was wrong!
While enjoying morning coffee and listening idly to the radio in the background, our attention was caught by a report of a "small" plane having crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. We turned on the TV, and flipped to CNN, which was already covering the story with cameras and reporters, only to be horrified within minutes by live video of a second plane tearing apart the South Tower. It was apparent in that instant that this was no accident!
The total holocaust that followed in New York need not be documented here. We have all seen it time and time again and many of us still live with it. As the morning unfolded, there would be another plane, piloted by high-jackers, that would crash headlong into the Pentagon, the very bastion of U.S. military operations, while on a hillside in Pennsylvania, brave men and women on yet another high-jacked plane would rise up against their captors and give their lives to save the White House or the Capitol Building from a similar fate.
It was mind-boggling! It was unbelievable! Yet as we watched it happen, we had to believe. This was our country, our beloved America, and we were under attack by unknown forces. Even as I try to recall the feelings of that morning, I shy from them, not ever wanting to go there again. I remember that later in the morning, I came on line to find three long time friends waiting for me to join them in a reassuring session of hand holding and exchanged "It'll be OK's." It was a comfort I'm still grateful for today.
The following day, or maybe later the same day, I put up a post in Yahoo Fantasy Racing that I wish I could share with you today, but I never saved it. The gist of it was that I was one of very few there who could remember World War II and the invasion on Pearl Harbor. I told of how the youth of our country back then willingly answered the call to arms, and volunteered in untold numbers to fight and defend us from the aggressor. Then I went on to proffer my faith in the youth of today to do the same thing, despite the differences between young and old that make us seem so far apart. I was not disappointed when a new and unproven President took our youngsters into battle to abolish the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. They went, they fought, and mercifully, most of them came home.
Now we find ourselves at the first anniversary of that newest "date that will live in infamy." One year ago, our entire country came together as one, rallying 'round the flag and "shouting the battle cry of freedom." (Look it up! It's a very old song, perhaps remembered only by very old ladies.) Everywhere we looked there were American flags and signs that proclaimed loudly and clearly, "God Bless America!"
We lost some 3000 lives to fanatics on this day last year, simply because they "hated" Americans. Now we live our lives a bit differently, or maybe a lot differently, depending on who or where we are. Lifestyle is not much different for an old Lady living in a small town in Georgia, but it has changed immensely, and not for the better, for a young fireman on Long Island who has spent most of the year working on the cleanup of "Ground-Zero". Mark, God bless you! I salute you and all of your brotherhood!
Once the magnitude of the attacks became apparent, NASCAR showed its usual decisiveness and swift handling of the situation by dragging its feet and not postponing the New Hampshire race until after the National Football League announced the cancellation of their entire card, in honor of the newly proclaimed day of national mourning on the following Sunday. Smart thinking, since logic would tell one that a vast number of fans and all of the race teams would have to pass through the New York City area to get there, and that wasn't about to happen.
The following weekend saw the teams gather at Dover, Delaware, with many of the cars carrying special paint schemes of red, white and blue, and all sporting flag decals. (My personal favorite had to be the #36 M&M's Pontiac of Ken Schrader, which bore absolutely no advertisement, but was painted to resemble a waving American flag.)
Every fan in the stands, some 140,000, held a small version of Old Glory, all of which waved high and often throughout the pre-race ceremonies. Those included Lee Greenwood, singing his now famous "God Bless the USA", followed by a Patriotic medley sung by Tanya Tucker, and the crowd lustily chanting USA! USA! USA! When Miss Tucker intoned the Star Spangled Banner, a hush fell on the stands until the very last note had been sung, then the chant rocked the stadium once more.
The race that day gave fans a reason to cheer, as the son and namesake of the fallen Champion, Dale Earnhardt, brought his #8 Budweiser colors (Complete with a large American flag on the rear deck lid) home in first place. Young Earnhardt was handed a huge American flag, which he waved from the driver's window as he circled the track, delighting the cheering crowd who still waved their own flags in accompaniment. It would take a long time to rebuild America, and some of it will never be the same, but NASCAR racing was back, with all the pomp and circumstance and patriotism one would expect of an All American sport.
This weekend past saw the anniversary remembered at Richmond, Virginia, with the introduction of dignitaries and working crews belonging to Police and Fire Departments from New York City, Washington D.C. and the Pennsylvania County where flight 93 met its demise along with all on board. There were several short but tasteful comments given, with Mike Helton speaking for NASCAR and Bill Elliott representing the drivers. The invocation was delivered by Joe Gibbs, owner of the #18 and #20 cars, and Karla Simmons offered a stirring rendition of the National Anthem. It struck me as extremely poignant that the drivers remained with their teams, standing at attention in prerace formation, until the ceremonies were over.
This year, the fans in the stands were given color cards rather than flags, and during the Anthem, were cued to reveal them, so that the words "God Bless America" appeared across the frontstretch flanked by stars on either side. The rest of the arena was circled in varying patterns of red, white and blue, and as the singing ceased, the familiar "USA" chant rose again. The command to start engines was given by a group of young men and women of the military, who just happened to be stationed in Afghanistan, asking the fans at Dover and all across our great country to join them in the words, "Gentlemen, start your engines." I joined in. I hope you did too.
All across our country this week, we'll be seeing and hearing reminders of what happened a year ago. It's not as if we've forgotten. Trust me, America will never forget! Maybe it's that we need a reminder to care! This Nation, "Under God", is the grandest on earth! NASCAR has reminded its fans of what September 11th now means to America. It is a day to stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Americans and proclaim, for all the world to hear, that although our buildings can be crumbled, and our lives disrupted, our spirits cannot be broken nor can our heads be bowed unless it is in prayer.
Each of us will be moved in different ways by this day but one thing is certain; it will not be a day like any other. By its very nature, it will be a day of sorrow and reflection, prayer and patriotism, punctuated by outpourings of warmth and love for all of our families, friends and countrymen.
As for me, I have an appointment at 10:30 on the morning of September 11th, to meet with three old friends, do a little hand holding and exchange the words "It'll be OK" several times over, but the first thing on the agenda will be a silent prayer for a young fireman from Long Island who knows better. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts and recollections with you on this somber occasion, the first anniversary of the day America lost her innocence and a vast number of her innocents.
God bless you, gentle readers, and God bless America!
~PattyKay
Email: nas3car@etcmail.com
Twitter: @MamaPKL
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