As a follow-up to Monday”s chat, and the reprinting of the
Reverend Billy Graham”s speech from Friday”s National Prayer
Service in Washington, recognizing that most of you missed it, I
feel obligated to include President Bush”s speech that same day.
Following it, I do attempt to get back to normal, a bit, with other
Bar Chat fare.
—
Washington: 9/14/01
We are here in the middle hour of our grief. So many have
suffered so great a loss, and today we express our nation”s
sorrow. We come before God to pray for the missing and the
dead, and for those who loved them.
On Tuesday, our country was attacked with deliberate and
massive cruelty. We have seen the images of fire and ashes and
bent steel.
Now come the names, the list of casualties we are only beginning
to read. They are the names of men and women who began their
day at a desk or in an airport, busy with life. They are the names
of people who faced death and in their last moments called home
to say, be brave and I love you.
They are the names of passengers who defied their murderers
and prevented the murder of others on the ground. They are the
names of men and women who wore the uniform of the United
States and died at their posts.
They are the names of rescuers – the ones whom death found
running up the stairs and into the fires to help others. We will
read all these names. We will linger over them and learn their
stories, and many Americans will weep.
To the children and parents and spouses and families and friends
of the lost, we offer the deepest sympathy of the nation. And I
assure you, you are not alone.
Just three days removed from these events, Americans do not yet
have the distance of history, but our responsibility to history is
already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil.
War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder.
This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This
conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others; it will end
in a way and at an hour of our choosing.
Our purpose as a nation is firm, yet our wounds as a people are
recent and unhealed and lead us to pray. In many of our prayers
this week, there”s a searching and an honesty. At St. Patrick”s
Cathedral in New York, on Tuesday, a woman said, “I pray to
God to give us a sign that he”s still here.” Others have prayed for
the same, searching hospital to hospital, carrying pictures of
those still missing.
God”s signs are not always the ones we look for. We learn in
tragedy that his purposes are not always our own, yet the prayers
of private suffering, whether in our homes or in this great
Cathedral are known and heard and understood.
There are prayers that help us last through the day or endure the
night. There are prayers of friends and strangers that give us
strength for the journey, and there are prayers that yield our will
to a will greater than our own.
This world he created is of moral design. Grief and tragedy and
hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance and love
have no end, and the Lord of life holds all who die and all who
mourn.
It is said that adversity introduces us to ourselves. This is true of
a nation as well. In this trial, we have been reminded and the
world has seen that our fellow Americans are generous and kind,
resourceful and brave.
We see our national character in rescuers working past
exhaustion, in long lines of blood donors, in thousands of
citizens who have asked to work and serve in any way possible.
And we have seen our national character in eloquent acts of
sacrifice. Inside the World Trade Center, one man who could
have saved himself stayed until the end and at the side of his
quadriplegic friend. A beloved priest died giving the last rites to
a firefighter. Two office workers, finding a disabled stranger,
carried her down 68 floors to safety.
A group of men drove through the night from Dallas to
Washington to bring skin grafts for burned victims. In these acts
and many others, Americans showed a deep commitment to one
another and an abiding love for our country.
Today, we feel what Franklin Roosevelt called the “warm
courage of national unity.” This is a unity of every faith and
every background. This has joined together political parties and
both houses of Congress. It is evident in services of prayer and
candlelight vigils and American flags, which are displayed in
pride and waved in defiance. Our unity is a kinship of grief and
a steadfast resolve to prevail against our enemies. And this unity
against terror is now extending across the world.
America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be
grateful for, but we are not spared from suffering. In every
generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom.
They have attacked America because we are freedom”s home and
defender, and the commitment of our fathers is now the calling
of our time.
On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask
almighty God to watch over our nation and grant us patience and
resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and
console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each
life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come.
As we”ve been assured, neither death nor life nor angels nor
principalities, nor powers nor things present nor things to come
nor height nor depth can separate us from God”s love.
May He bless the souls of the departed. May He comfort our
own. And may He always guide our country.
God bless America.
—
A few news items that were lost in the more important events of
the past week deserve mention.
–Fred De Cordova, the producer for 22 years of “The Tonight
Show Starring Johnny Carson,” died at age 90. I still miss
Carson, and I”m forever grateful to my parents who, at a very
young age, permitted me to stay up and watch his opening
monologue. This definitely had something to do with my current
profession (for better or worse!).
De Cordova actually spent a large part of his early career
producing and directing movies, including directing “Bedtime
for Bonzo,” which he always claimed was better than people
gave him credit for.
Freddie didn”t take over “The Tonight Show” until he was age
60, back in 1970, but he held sway for the next 22 years, viewing
the program from behind the camera, off stage, and bearing the
brunt of many of Carson”s jokes. He was also in charge of
bumping guests from the show if time was running short.
Carson, himself, has been largely a recluse since he retired in
1992, and he has yet to comment on his dear buddy”s death.
–Garnett “Ace” Bailey, former Boston Bruins” player, was a
passenger on the 2nd plane that hit the Twin Towers. He was
director of scouting for the LA Kings, just 53. Ace had a 10-year
NHL career, but is best known for his 5 seasons with Boston,
during a period when they won two Stanley Cups (”70 and ”72).
Just a classic, hard-nosed player, in an era that, in my humble
opinion, produced the best hockey ever played.the late 60s /
early 70s.
–Jaroslav Drobny also died, age 79. To be honest, I didn”t
remember his name when I stumbled on his obituary, but Drobny
should be called one of the great athletes of all time. After all,
not only did this former Czech win 3 Grand Slam tennis titles
(two French and one Wimbledon), but he also played on
Czechoslovakia”s silver-medal-winning 1948 Olympic hockey
team. But in 1949, he was heavily criticized in the communist-
controlled press in his homeland for losing the Wimbledon
finals, so he defected! God bless you, Jaroslav. RIP.
–Sadly, 8 cross-country runners from the University of
Wyoming were killed early Sunday when the team van was hit.
–The Ryder Cup was postponed for one year. The same squads
will perform next year at the Belfry and the Cup will now be
contested on even-numbered years. I understand the need to
reschedule because there were legitimate security concerns,
particularly since the time and place for this event has been
known for years. On the other hand, I would have loved to see
them move the tournament to Ballybunion in Ireland, where
obviously any real organized terrorist action would have been
impossible to plan on such short notice. Just my opinion.
anything for my adopted country, you understand.
–Sports Illustrated had a tally of the gifts that Tony Gwynn and
Cal Ripken, Jr. are receiving as they appear in ballparks for the
last time. I thought the Cardinals handled it the best. While
most of the gifts are photos of magical moments that may have
occurred in each park, the Cards gave Gwynn a pencil drawing
signed not only by all the current players, but also Lou Brock and
Stan Musial. Now that is cool.
And the Cards also need to be commended for a great ceremony
before Monday”s Brewers game, as well as the singing of “God
Bless America” during the 7th-inning stretch.
–Tragedy struck CART, as two-time champion Alex Zanardi had
a horrific crash last weekend wherein he lost both legs. CART is
known for its terrific safety record, but Zanardi was hit, at 200-
mph, in the side of the lower half of his car, a spot seen as the
only vulnerable one. In this particular accident it was sheared
off.
–Former University of Florida guard Teddy Dupay (who was
just booted off the team this year), has formally been implicated
in a gambling scheme, whereby Dupay would provide a U of F
friend with inside information on whether the Gators could cover
point spreads. The friend then shared the winnings he received
with Teddy. Dupay thus becomes eligible for StocksandNews”
“Sports Dirtball of the Year.” I think we already know who is
receiving the overall award…though I”ll probably retire it after
last week”s events.
–On a lighter note, there has never been a “Steve Smith” who
played major league baseball. Never. So darnit, don”t give your
boys this name, or consider changing it, immediately, because
the poor kid just won”t have a chance. [Source: Sports
Illustrated]
–And finally, SI also reports that Jesper Parnevik recently had
20-year-old golfing phenom Sergio Garcia over to his home for a
few days. Jesper reports that Sergio played with the kids for a
spell, but the rest of the time “he was chasing the nannies
around.”
We”ll resume our normal format on Friday, including sports
quizzes.
