Endless Visibility
Endless Visibility
In the cockpit of a jet at ‘mil’ power,
just below supersonic
it whistles through the air,
the engine sounds, behind you
they don’t catch up
before you are gone from where you were.
Streaking over the Potomac
on this crystal clear morning
towards a 767 flying too low, flying too erratically,
flying to its Jihadist rendezvous with how many virgins?
All you know is that you, Major, are the only other plane in the sky.
No wing, no support, no reserves.
Alone
Fuel at ‘bingo’ you radio back to weapons control
then the CO gets on the squak
asks you over the air, in a voice as if he were your father,
“If ordered, could you shoot down a passenger plane?”
and you said “yes…yes, Sir”
And he ordered you to go.
Then you remembered that your F16
had no live weapons
no live missiles
just 106 training rounds.
Today was to be a simple day of practice
Not a day to defend a nation under attack.
And when you decided
that the only next action
after the 106 failed to disable an engine,
which you knew it wouldn’t,
or shatter the cockpit
which you knew it wouldn’t,
was to crash your jet into the roaring spirit of hijacked islamic hate,
you looked at the picture of your son,
neatly slid between the canopy frame and canopy glass.
Looked at it for the longest time, with the whistle going past…
before seeing it come up from behind,
from a scratched and burnt Pennsylvania field:
The greasy smoke pyre of Flight 93’s passenger resolve.
As reported in Touching History by Lynn Spenser, Major Billy Hutchison of the 121st Fighter Squadron, DC Air National Guard was the only military jet between United 93 and the populated city of Washington DC on September 11, 2001. His jet was diverted from training with limited munitions and he was given orders to keep United 93 from crashing into the city by any means necessary. He was minutes from intercept before the passengers on the hijacked jet succeeded in their second assault on the cabin.
3 Responses to “Endless Visibility”
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Shannon
Said this at 7:09am:For days before this anniversary, I find my thoughts bounce off of the date on my calendar. I have trouble scheduling business meetings or social events or in any way thinking about what I’m going to do on this date. And, I work at not thinking about why that is. It’s as though there is an invisible force field, blocking access to that part of my memory. I don’t want to remember, it’s too hard.
Your poem shattered that boundary this morning. Thank you.
Emily Marshall
Said this at 7:03pm:Thank you for another perspective on 9/11. It’s amazing that in the rush of human interest stories at that time, I never heard this one.
Jane Turley
Said this at 7:06am:Made me think.