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Only one media moment in this weekend of obsessive mawkishness actually got it. It's no surprise that this Sunday's Doonesbury was it. If you haven't seen it, follow the link and see it now.

There's something else, which doesn't make much sense unless you've lived it. Those primarily caught up in any tragedy, whether one day's horrors or years of war, do live it forever. Even when they come to terms with their memories, it's still there. September 11 and the invasion of Iraq also happened before the eyes of people who had experienced the traumas of recent, and not so recent, wars.
When that's you, you at least do what B.D. is doing in this strip. If it's successful, you simply lose yourself in your thoughts. If it isn't, you go numb inside. Wiser, or at least more professional, heads than mine have warned me against the numbing. The warnings may be true, but numb gets you through the day when engagement will put you in a straitjacket.

I remember being moderately freaked when the Iraq war began. I came out, if you will, at my company as a collateral participant in the Vietnam festivities. Although I discovered that I was that firm's only veteran, one woman came up to me and said that her significant other was likewise freaked. He had been in the Gulf War and helped clean up "the highway to Hell."

Holy shit.

There are reasons this coverage doesn't rock for everyone.