Email from an Eyewitness - 6-8-00
Hi. Sorry I never got a chance to respond to your note suggesting
I write
the Times. I thought about it a lot and quite seriously.
But I don't think
writing the Times - especially the Times - makes a difference.
They just
don't seem to care what a witness says.
It may sound funny, but it's almost like if it comes from a third party
- an
'objective' person - then they might listen and care. I can't
tell you how
many times I have heard people just dismiss what I've said to them.
It's
like they believe the press so much that they just look at me like
I must be
confused. (Then there was the lawyer, a friend, who said I had
to be careful
to continue to speak up because of the legal action being taken by
some of
the parties ... So much for free speech. Or even honesty.)
About a year and a half after Flight 800 was shot down I couldn't understand
why the other witnesses seemed to be so resigned, much quieter and
more
subdued. Now I understand. It's just exhausting to keep
speaking into a
wind tunnel. It's like telling people they have cancer, they
just don't want
to hear it. Even if they could be proactive and do something
useful if they
knew.
Thank you for your suggestion, and for your persistence. I will
write
someone/where at some point. I'm not entirely exhausted (yet).
It just
didn't seem like it would make a bit of difference in this case.
Best wishes,
(name withheld)
