I don't want to detract from the power of these images with a lot of inane rambling, so I will keep this brief. These 3 images and the title sum up most of my feelings about 9/11. "Falling Man" is why I will never forgive and never forget. It is one of the most timeless, moving, can't turn away, immediately recognized, emotionally wrenching photographs ever taken.

The second picture is of the Infidel Cowboy and 3 year old daughter Sara at ground zero. Sara was just over 2 years old when the attacks happened. My wife was out of town about to get on a plane to go on a business trip which got canceled because of the grounding of all non-military aircraft that day - I found out what was going on because of a call from her saying they were grounded. Sara and I were home alone, getting me ready for work and her ready for daycare. She sensed something was wrong, even at her age. Since there was no avoiding the coverage and it was too much for most adults to deal with let alone a child, we focused on talk about the "burning buildings" with her. When we went to ground zero, as we were standing in front of the memorial to all those who died that day, she started crying. She had deduced as we stood there that those "burning buildings" and air planes had been full of people - mommies, daddies, children. It is a heart wrenching thing to witness your child begin to understand death, especially as a result of something like this. To this day, whenever she hears the Enya song in the tribute that the third image links to, she says "it's the burning building song, daddy."

The third image represents the heros of the day, and presents hope for the future. The fire fighters, police, EMTs, Todd Beamer and the rest of the passengers on flight 93, and so many others represent so much of what is right in ths country. Some may associate this image with forced patriotism, a wrapping of oneself in the flag. For me, personally, 9/11 doesn't inspire any more or less patriotism or make me desirous of engaging in any flag waving I wouldn't have done before that day. What it has inspired is a realization that there are those in the world who would do things like this and they hate us, it has inspired rage and a desire for vengeance that has not passed, and in fact has only been reinforced by other events in the meantime, such as the Beslan Massacre that resulted in the death of hundreds of children in Russia.