After the Day of Remembrance

[Kent Swafford]

On 9/14/01 3:02 PM, "Robert Wilson" <pianotechnicianuk@yahoo.com> wrote:

> The hurt and anguish seems to be increasing rather than diminishing.  We know
> that you are all suffering over there, we are hurting too and we want you to
> know that we are with you.
> 
> Bob Wilson London

Thanks Bob. There is truth in your saying that "hurt and anguish seem to be
increasing rather than diminishing".

At this hour I was to be in Chicago, helping to plan the next convention of
the Piano Technicians Guild. Events have made that planning meeting
impossible for now, so I am at home. It is just as well, for my ability to
work and concentrate has gradually deteriorated this week. This is most
distressing.

My wife came to me this morning, saying that the talk of war was making her
nervous. I was immediately transported in my thoughts to a time 40 years ago
when my grandmother came to me during the Cuban missile crisis telling me
that people were all saying we were going to have war. Although the
situation 40 years ago was brought to a peaceful conclusion, we may not be
so lucky this time.

A few minutes later my 11-year old son came to me and asked if we had a flag
we could display in front of our house. We do and it is now on display.

I have an 18 year old nephew; this week is the first time that it has ever
occurred to me that my nephew and my son might be called upon to defend our
country. This is the genuine terror that has resulted for me personally as a
result of Tuesday's attacks on our country.

All I can think about are those passengers aboard the hijacked airplane that
crashed in Pennsylvania. Modern communications are such that these
passengers may have been able to communicate with their families during the
hijacking. There is some indication that the passengers aboard the hijacked
airplane became aware of the World Trade Center attacks and realized what
they had to do. They took action and appear to have deliberately ended their
own lives rather than let the plane be a part of further terrorist attacks.

What if that plane had hit the Pentagon opposite the crash site of the plane
that did make it to the Pentagon? The mind reels. But that one plane out of
the four that were hijacked didn't hit the Pentagon or any other target,
because Americans wouldn't allow it.

Do you want a rallying cry? There it is. The Americans on that plane simply
would not allow terrorism to continue, nor will the rest of us.

Civilization will not allow terrorism to continue.

Just as the American Revolutionaries are said to have invented guerilla
warfare to give themselves a tactical advantage in their struggle for
independence, the Americans of the 21st century will have to invent new
tactics in the war against terrorism.

Guerilla tactics minimized the targets available to the Revolutionaries'
enemy. Perhaps we need to minimize our targets of terrorism as well.
Decentralization may become a routine strategy of defense.

However, it has become obvious that there will be active military actions
against the sources of terrorism. There is no alternative. America will do
whatever it takes to defend itself; may no one doubt the resolve.

As a piano technician, I have to admit that some of the most moving moments
for me this week have come at the times when piano music has been used both
to bring comfort and to express the unspeakable grief America is feeling. It
is just a reminder that everyone has a role to play, not the least of which
are we piano technicians. Let us play our roles proudly.

OK, things may have changed, but it is time for me to get back to work.

Kent Swafford