Spoken by spouses, by relatives, by children barely recalling their mother of father who died ten years ago, the names of the thousands of victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks are the many names of America today. They are the names of America because America has shown again, by remembering the most grievous of tragedies in its recent history, that it knows to honor its dead, average people or heroes with impressive stories. They are the names of America because the force of this nation consists, among others, of the miraculous gift of no-names to give birth to heroes any given time. They are the names of America, those who united a whole nation these days in a very special effort of mindfulness: by properly honoring the past, their eyes on tomorrow.
American newspapers and television channels have been rushing for several days to discover new sensational stories on miraculously saved lives, emotional personal sacrifices, tragic destinies and the moments of horror on September 11, 2001. Some are eager to draw pessimistic conclusions on the worsening image of America abroad over these past ten years, on the costly wars or on the failure in Afghanistan, on the loss of civil liberties, on average Americans who have become more cautious about people around them and more distrustful of their country. Others are looking for an optimistic perspective on America's chances to recover its crushed symbols, to rise again and are finding that something of note happened in the meantime: Osama bin Laden is dead, Justice has been done.
So there's a lot to say. But there's nothing left to say when you see spouses or parents standing before the whole world, recalling names of no significance for others but which meant the whole world for them. There's nothing left to add when a sea of "no-names" reminds other "no-names" that they had children, fathers, lovers, g