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"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
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Author:  Larry Simoneaux
Bio: Larry Simoneaux
Date:  June 4, 2006
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Topic category:  Other/General

Two thumbs up...and they're both mine.

I didn’t go the weekend it opened. For that matter, I didn’t go for several weeks thereafter. But last Sunday, I went to see "United 93."

It’s the film about the airliner that crashed into a field on 9/11.

It was the only hijacked airliner to miss its target - the U.S. Capitol Building - that day.

The reason for that was because a group of ordinary people came to understand what was happening and decided that it wasn’t going to happen on their flight.

I’m not a movie critic nor will I pretend to be.

In fact, I seldom read reviews because I can generally figure out whether or not I’ll enjoy a movie.

A good story well told is my rule of thumb and, as someone once said, "Anything with a message can be handled by Western Union."

But I wasn’t sure about whether to see this one.

And that’s not because of any concern over whether or not it was "too soon" to see a movie about that day.

Truth be told, I think we’ve waited too long. Too many of us have forgotten what that day was all about. Too many of us have buried images like those of the men and women who had to make the decision of whether they wished to be incinerated or jump hundreds of feet to certain death.

In my perfect world, we’d re-run the images of 9/11 every week in prime time as a reminder that we’re in a worldwide war with a patient, determined, and thoroughly barbarous enemy.

No, the reason I wasn’t sure I wanted to see the movie is because I was afraid that the subject might be mishandled, politicized, or turned into some mawkish grab for feelings.

After seeing the movie, I have three words for you.

Go see it.

It’s about as honest a movie as I’ve ever seen. It’s also about as relentlessly gripping a movie you’ll ever see because, no matter how you’d like it to end, you already know how it will end.

Go see this movie if you’ve ever wondered how, in the space of minutes, normal situations can become devastatingly confusing.

Talk to anyone you know who’s ever had a job that requires coordination, communications, clear lines of command, and timely information. Ask them what can happen when everything goes south in a big way.

Ask them how it feels to try to get a clear picture of what’s going on when information is coming at you like water out of a fire hose and a lot of that information is contradictory and, sometimes, just plain wrong.

Ask them what it’s like to know that you’ve just been handed a situation that’s nowhere to be found in any set of rules, regulations, or guidelines because what’s happening hasn’t even been dreamed of, let alone planned for.

Ask them what it’s like to know that you’re out of time, out of options, and have no idea of whether or not what you’re about to do is anywhere in the same zip code as the "right thing."

What you’ll learn is that, when you’re smack in the middle of a major "fur ball," it takes time for the best, brightest, and most highly trained among us to sort things out and - even then - bad things are sure to happen.

On another level, if you want to come as close as any movie can bring you to feeling the absolute confusion and utter panic of being instantly snatched from a routine situation and then placed face to face with death, this movie will bring you to that point.

And finally, if you want to understand a little more about courage, go see this movie.

Courage is an interesting trait. In our species, there’s no standard unit. It comes in all different sizes, colors, and age groups.

Courage has nothing to do with a lack of fear. It’s better defined as knowing knee-weakening, bladder-loosening fear, and then overcoming that fear in order to do something about the situation you’re faced with.

Courage, in fact, is a group of ordinary people on an ordinary flight who do an extraordinary thing.

They knew they were likely to die, but decided that something needed to be done.

They knew they were the only ones who could do it and they did it.

"United 93."

It’s as good a movie on this subject as can likely be made.

It’s worth your time not only to remember that morning, but also to be reassured that, in appalling situations, we can sometimes be at our absolute best.

Larry Simoneaux

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Biography - Larry Simoneaux

Larry Simoneaux is a regular columnist for The Everett Herald in Washington state. He is a retired ship driver for the US Navy and NOAA.


Read other commentaries by Larry Simoneaux.

Copyright © 2006 by Larry Simoneaux
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