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2001 Message to the 9/11 Terrorists
On that sunny Tuesday morning I was still employed at my former radio
station, so please make no mistake; this did NOT happen at WLNG. My desk was directly next
to the news department with a clear view of the room. I entered to see the first World
Trade Center tower smoking and asked what was going on. Amidst the numerous, all slightly
different explanations from the many news and non-news people there, the moment came when
the second plane struck the other tower. Like most Americans at that moment, I came to
realize this whole scenario was no accident. Compounded with the other events that
transpired in Washington DC and Pennsylvania, I was pretty despondent that evening....and
angry. What angered me the most was video shot in villages in the middle east, showing
gleeful men, woman and children, dancing and cheering the deaths of innocent Americans
while being shown TV news footage of the towers collapsing and falling.
On Wednesday I happened to read a reprinted message to the terrorists from a Mr.
Leonard Pitts that originally appeared in the Miami Herald. It was entitled "We'll Go Forward From This
Moment" and it had a profound effect on my attitude regarding the attack. I also
felt that it would be disrespectful to just begin another Sock Hop program that coming
Saturday with all kinds of rock and roll, joking around and such after these tragedies,
the loss of life and damage to the American morale. That message from Mr. Pitts MUST be
read. And that is exactly what I did with these songs that followed immediately:
GOD BLESS THE USA, Lee Greenwood
THE AMERICANS, Byron MacGregor
THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER, Robert Merril
BACK IN THE USA, Chuck Berry
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, Ray Charles
AMERICAN TRILOGY, Elvis Presley
An important sidenote before I go on. During the past 4+
years at WLNG I have continually and vocally slammed my old station and the management
behind it, and listeners continue to ask me if I am just exaggerating. The following
paragraph should remove any doubt.
My reading of the article by Mr. Pitts created a lot of buzz in the audience. So
much so that on my arrival Monday morning our receptionist said the answering system was
flooded over to being inoperative, with praise about my message and requests for copies of
the show. I was barely seated at my desk a minute when I was paged to the PD's office. As
I walked down the halls my thoughts were of praise and thanks......things that were not my
goal, but would be a welcome greeting. Instead, I was immediately grilled; "Who do
you think YOU are by reading that message Saturday night???" I was so stunned I
couldn't even respond. Someone on our FM station heard me read it and decided it would be
a perfect item for their morning show. I was being admonished because I, a little
"secondary bit player"* at the station, didn't save such an important message
for the AM station's morning show. After five minutes of being read the riot act I
wandered back to my desk in total disbelief. To this day I still can't recall what kept me
from resigning on the spot. Maybe because this was just another par-for-the-course moment.
Below you will find links to the originally aired message in two forms.....with and
without the music that followed. See for yourself why I was chastised and belittled for
something that I felt needed to be done. NOW, am I exaggerating?
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MP3 format, vocal only (5mb) |
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MP3 format, vocal and following music (22mb) |
These files are LARGE intentionally in order to retain audio quality |
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