I was eleven years old when the world was caught off guard, as I—along with millions of people—watched the destruction of the World Trade Center.
My mom in tears, my dad shocked, my family in disarray .
I remember coming home from school on that day, as we were sent home early due to what we saw. September 12th, 2001 was the longest and slowest day of my life and it was one of the saddest.
As Thursday came around I was hoping to see SmackDown and for the first time my mom sat there with me as we saw Vince McMahon open the show in the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas.
When Vince said "We will not live you lives in fear," I could see my mom start to cry as she had for the first time really watched and listened as he spoke upon how this was the first assembly of this size since the tragedy of Tuesday.
“The citizens of Houston are not afraid, the citizens of Texas are indeed not afraid and by God, the citizens of the United States are not afraid,” Vince McMahon spoke those words and my mom said “Oh Hell Yea, you tell them Vince”. I saw my mom as a patriot like I saw Vince McMahon a patriot and I got the goosebumps and started to feel that I didn’t have to be afraid of what I watched on TV on that dark day.
When he said “proud of who we are, proud of our nation and damn proud to be Americans,” I finally grasped the situation and the tears flowed down my face.
Vince said “America’s heart has been wounded, but her spirit shines as a beacon of freedom that never has been and never will be taken away.” Lillian Garcia sang the national anthem. My mom told me to stand as I listened to the words for the first time and clearly knew why my mother cried. I was so proud of the country and that we are a strong nation and it made me proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.
The September 13, 2001 edition of SmackDown was bigger than wrestling and it showed with the words were spoken and the crowd cheering “USA USA”. It showed that even something that is what wrestling was made out to be could be so real at that moment in time as the fans stood on there feet as we saw something real that night and I realize something that night.
Wrestling could do what others were afraid to do at that time and take that risk to provide us with a smile that was needed at a time of sorrow. I smiled big, chanting USA with my mom and we watched the whole show not changing the channel.
For those two hours we lived with a smile on our face.
Two years later, Vince decided to show his appreciation by taking some of the guys in the company and giving the troops one hell of a show.
When he spoke to the troops, I was sitting in the same spot I did when I watch the 9/13/01 edition of SmackDown.
He said “The secret weapon of the fighting men and woman, the secret weapon is the American spirit that lives in side of each and every one of you.” That quote from that speech touched my heart because it was so true because all that was needed was to believe.
33 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete