May 2013

Craig Mongeau - May 2013

The Boston Marathon bombings this past month proved that the only result terrorists should expect to achieve is that whatever catastrophe they decide to create will only bring a city and Americans together — something that isn’t easy to accomplish these days.

The teamwork exemplified by the Boston Police Department, the Watertown Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, the FBI, the ATF, teh National Guard and the public in identifying, locating and capturing one of the suspects in just four-and-a-half days was remarkable. The teamwork and solidarity also exhibited at sports venues across the county in support of the victims and Boston was that rare sports feat when the clichéd, “This type of tragedy really puts things into perspective,” actually did just that. Red Sox fans like to express the extent of the Yankees on-field troubles, even when the Bronx team is really good, with a chant that amounts to saying that the “Yankees aren’t very good.” Well, the Yankees and their fans showed the true class acts they are by playing “Sweet Caroline” (a sort-of Red Sox anthem played in teh late innings at Fenway) during a game in New York shortly after the bombings and actually enjoying it in the process.

Terrorism by definition is the mass murder of innocent people to promote a religious or political cause. Ostensibly, they believe that the horror of their acts will somehow bring attention to their perceived plight and frighten us into doing (or stop doing) whatever it is they think is causing them problems. But what they continually fail to comprehend is that the one thing they hope to achieve with their acts only results in the one thing they fear most — a galvanized America, acting, feeling and thinking as one … a team.

As the weeks move on from the Marathon bombing, hard question will be asked about how this could have happened, who could have stopped it and how to handle the surviving suspect. But aspiring terrorists should not mistake this as weakness, as cracks in our team. Americans are resilient because we ask the tough questions of ourselves and search for and find the answers. And in these times, we will remain united in that quest and together against evil.