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Will be my some of my only tweets today . Will be long but worth I have to say it.
there’s a very powerful scene at the end of Saving Private Ryan when Tom Hanks character , Captain Miller , fights through his last breath of life to tell James Ryan (Matt Damon) “earn this”
there’s a very powerful scene at the end of Saving Private Ryan when Tom Hanks character , Captain Miller , fights through his last breath of life to tell James Ryan (Matt Damon) “earn this”
Referring to the mission of bringing home Private Ryan safely after his four brothers lost their lives in combat. The same mission that cost Capt Miller and nearly all of his men their lives . Miller and those men knew what they were getting into when they signed up ,
they knew the risk,they knew that by saving one or may cost themselves their own life.Miller’s message to Ryan is to never forget that.Don’t live with guilt , but to live a life so full , so filled with good that it earns the respect of the men who made it possible. “Earn this”.
The words stick with Ryan throughout his entire life as he aims to earn that respect every day of his life, as exemplified in the first and last scenes of the film.
Those words have stood out to me the last few weeks as we approached the anniversary of this awful day. There’s no denying right now the world is a pretty shitty place. Regardless of who you’re voting for , regardless of your beliefs of taxes , the economy etc
there’s no denying in my opinion nearly every rational person will say “we can be doing better” with our behavior. Which brings me back to “earn this” .
You may be from the middle of the country , you may have never traveled to NYC, you may not know a single person who lost their life 19 years ago, or a single family who lost a loved one. But I knew those families .
I knew them when it happened , and in the years after I met people who lost a father , a brother , a mother , a sister or a friend on that horrific day. People like Tommy Hannafin , described as “an awesome uncle, and friend” by my best friend since I was 7.
I was in school with nieces and nephews of Stephen Siller . A guy who instead of playing golf , decided to respond to lower Manhattan off duty and when the bridges were closed and he wasn’t able to get through put on his gear and ran through the battery tunnel to go save people.
With 5 children and a wife at home . Spend a day with the Ragaglia boys and see how great their dad must have been to raise such wonderful sons. I watched my father grieve the loss of his former teammate and friend in Chris Grady.
I watched people in the neighborhood attend what seemed like 1000 wakes and funerals. The names and examples unfortunately can go on for far longer than they should.
For all those people and the countless others who defended us in the days after . Are we earning it ? Are we honoring their memory by acting how we have been these last few months ? Is our behavior something they would be looking down on and be proud of ?
Are the countless hours we spend arguing with each other worth it ? For all the times we wished for just one more day , one more hour or one more minute with all those people lost , have we been using our time to the best ability ?
In the days following those horrific attacks we earned it. People went out of there way to console their friends and the families affected. People put aside their upbringing , tax brackets , political parties and everything else to just make sure people were ok.
We prayed with each other. We consoled each other , we listened to each other , we helped each other we loved each other, and most importantly we took care of each other . People donated water , supplies , their time, money etc to help anyway they could.
Because while that event affected them and saddened them , people knew certain families had it much worse. They knew that those people needed help. Without hesitation they helped.
What does this all mean ? I guess my point is that in the darkest times , American people have a tendency to shine the brightest . We did it 19 years ago . We promised to never forget .
We promised to “earn this” as Captain Miller said.
W/ these dark times upon us the last 6 months, & the significance of this day ,let’s do a better job of “earning it” w our behavior,let’s do a better job of honoring those who sacrificed for us. Let’s be better people ,and let’s have bigger hearts.Never forget ... earn this. 
