Hey, You!

Illustration by Bob Aul

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More About

• Euclid
• World Trade Center

I was driving to work on the south 405, only vaguely aware of the date. I had scantly heard mention of the World Trade Center that morning. Then I saw you. You paced back and forth across that overpass near the Euclid exit. You held a long pole supporting a huge American flag, which you waved back and forth at the traffic below. You sought neither acclaim nor credit. You had nothing to gain from doing it. And at that moment, as I realized that it was the only flag I had seen that morning, watching you wave it for no other reason than to make us remember, it was simply one of the most beautiful and purest things I had ever seen. Whoever you are, you made me understand on this horrible anniversary five years later that patriotism is still alive and is in fact nothing to be ashamed of. You made me realize why the spirit that made my country so great will prevail, even while asshole politicians or war or terrorists try to destroy it. You made me remember why I still live here, would never live anywhere else, and how wonderful our freedom is. You made me proud once again to be an American.

Send anonymous thanks, confessions or accusations—changing or deleting the names of the guilty and innocent—to "Hey, You!" c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701-7417, or e-mail us at letters@ocweekly.com.