The US Navy has decided to cancel its scheduled military flyover to commemorate the 9/11 attacks after detractors panned the ceremony as being extremely distasteful.
It seems to have been a last minute decision as the cancellation was only finalized hours before the event.
The cancellation was shared by the New York City’s automated emergency alert systems on Twitter. According to the original plans, F-18 jets were supposed to fly over the Big Apple in the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Needless to say, the visual of having jets flying in the skies of New York to commemorate and remember one of the most traumatic and tragic events in modern American history was deemed inappropriate by many, especially by New Yorkers who retain memories from the fateful day.
Rather shockingly, the plan was to have a jet fly over the Hudson River and fly to where Ground Zero is now located at. For everyone that remembers the shocking image of two planes crashing into the Twin Towers, the image itself is a rather unnerving scene.
Why anyone approved of such plans is still unknown. It is possible to hypothesize that perhaps someone thought it would be a cathartic and symbolic gesture to show the resilience of New Yorkers and Americans as a whole.
While that would have been somewhat understandable, the big problem is that the memories of the attacks are still vivid in so many people’s minds. Not only are there first responders who heroically responded to the attacks, but there are also the many who saw the events on their TVs.
That is why New York politicians were the first to oppose the event. Representative Max Rose questioned the sanity of whoever organized the event and called for the cancellation, while Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office said that the Mayor was not notified of this particular flyover.
Rather strangely, very little has been known about who organized the event with what purpose. While it is clear that the flyover was approved by military insiders, all other information regarding this event has not been reported. For instance, whether the President approved the event is unknown.
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Replaced!