Those were some of the last words in a Friday evening statement issued by President Barack Obama on Friday, April 19, 2013.
The statement (here) came after a week-long man hunt for two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing came to a close and within days after an explosion in West, Texas.
In the two events combined, 17 have been confirmed dead, more than 380 injured and as of 10 a.m. EDT on Saturday, April 20, many were still missing in Texas.
But little did President Obama recognize with his statement, that he spoke not only for this week in 2013 but for the third week of April throughout American history.
The moment I learned of the attacks in Boston on Monday, I realized what week this was. The Boston Marathon is designed to celebrate Patriot Day – honoring both the beginning and the end of the American Revolution. It was April 17, 1775 when Paul Revere road through the streets of Boston warning of the British advancement by sea. Two days later, 122 people were killed, 213 injured and 58 were reported missing in the first official day of war at Lexington-Concord. The eight-year war began to form peace on April 15, 1783 after 130,000 lives were claimed on American soil.
Since this founding battle of the United States of America, the third week of April has remained as a week of disaster and national headlines. It’s a week that I would circle on the calendar if I was head of a national newsroom or the President’s chief of staff. It’s a week that for whatever reason should be a no vacation time period.
There are other weeks that stand out as deadly times in American history. July 1865 was the Battle of Gettysburg. The middle of September holds two of the bloodiest days in American history: The Battle of Antietam (Battle of Sharpsburg), which claimed 22,717 lives on Sept. 17, 1862, and also the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
But no week stands out throughout America’s 237 years like this one.
Since 1776, the week of April 15-20 has seen 4,285 killed and 5,847 injured in 12 major historical events on American soil. Five of those events, not including the fire in West, Texas, resulted in more than $23.4 billion worth of damage to homes and cities. These numbers do not include the 1,517 that died in 1912 when the Titanic sank in the Atlantic or many killed in international events during this same time period in history.
So, yes, this has been a tough week.
Forever, as time moves on, this will be a week of remembrance, possibly even the “National Week of Remembrance.”
It is this week that we remember: the Patriots, Lincoln, the Titanic, Beirut, Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Boston and West, Texas.
It is also this week that many others have died that we may not keep in the front of our memory. Here’s a look back at April 15-20, 1776-2013. Take note and remember.
April 17, 1775 – British advancement by sea – start of American Revolution
April 19, 1775 – Lexington-Concord 122 killed, 213 injured, 58 missing.
April 15, 1783 – Preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War are ratified. War killed 130,000 during its eight years.
April 15, 1865 – Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous night at Ford Theater.
April 17, 1880 – F4 tornado hits Marshfield, Mo., killing 99, injuring 100.
April 17, 1906 – San Francisco Earthquake, killed 3,000
April 15, 1912 – Titanic sinks at 2:20 a.m. – only 710 of 2,227 survive.
April 15, 1927 – Great Mississippi Flood, the most destructive flood in U.S. history begins. New Orleans is left 4-feet underwater within 18 hours.
April 16, 1947 – Texas City Disaster – an explosion on board a freighter in Texas City, Texas kills almost 600.
April 15, 1969 – North Korea shoots down a US Navy plane, killing 31 in the Sea of Japan.
April 14, 1970 – “Houston, we have a problem.” Apollo 13 oxygen tank blows – but disaster is adverted and the crew returned safely April 17.
April 17, 1983 – Suicide bomber destroys US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63.
April 15, 1989 – Tiananmen Square standoff begins.
April 19, 1989 – USS Iowa explosion kills 47.
April 19, 1993 – Waco Fire, 76 killed
April 19, 1995 – Oklahoma City bombing kills 168
April 19, 1997 – Red River Flood
April 20, 1999 – Columbine massacre kills 13, injures 24
April 16, 2007 – Virginia Tech Massacre killed 33, 27 injured
April 20, 2010 – Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion, kills 11, 6 month oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
April 15, 2013 – Boston Marathon bombings, killed 3, injured 183 … paralyzed the city for a week.
April 17, 2013 – West, Texas Explosion … death toll and injury count ongoing.
April 15-20, 2004-2013 – 328 killed, 711 injured in three separate bombings in Iraq
In all, major events in U.S. history have claimed the lives of 25-plus per year since 1776 during this week.
