…and just now came across James Kosub’s comments and post about Oaths,
where he states that it’s unreasonable that the memory of September 11
lasted for 400 years into the future.
To this I say, nonsense.
People remember a wide variety of things from that long ago, although
the fragments can be somewhat jumbled. But saying that we don’t
remember it because certain other events had a higher body count is
just silly. People remember the Great Chicago Fire, but it wasn’t even
the biggest death toll of the day. 300 people died in the Chicago fire.
But on October 8, 1871 the logging town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin
also caught fire, as well as the surrounding forest. 1,150 people died
there. But the town’s telegraph lines burned down along with everything
else, so the news was late getting out, and got dwarfed by the news of
Chicago, as well as the colorful story about the lantern.
In the case of Corsi, what got passed down was not the death of the
2500 civilians, but the idea of sacrifice and duty that came from the
firefighters. The men who ran into certain death, and the ones who knew
it and went anyway. Particularly if it was a family heirloom, probably
from someone who died that day doing what Corsi was doing, putting
herself in harm’s way. Lense didn’t even need to know what 9/11 was to
know what a firefighter is, and to know that this was the tool of
someone who died, not in battle, but in service– and that it probably
inspired Corsi to put her life on the line doing the same thing.
Regardless, James has no idea how the future will play out. For all he
knows, 9/11 could very well bring out that future of death and
destruction he speaks of. Ever seen a Muslim in the Star Trek universe? 9/11 might be the beginning of why.
Is it possible it will be forgotten by many? Yes, as so many other things are.
But to proclaim knowledge of what will be remembered in the future (and
who will remember what, and for what reasons) is just, well,
presumptive.