Memories of 9/11/2001

We must again place ourselves on that day and painfully remember the details and see the towers come down; watch the Pentagon burning and remember the stories of men and women in Pennsylvania who fought back so heroically! Then we must tell our children and grandchildren of the events and help them understand what happened. Why we responded and why we are still at war. Then we need to insure the history books write the story as it happened versus the spin of someone wanting to rewrite history to their world view! Honor the victim’s memories with no hatred but forgiveness! A key to forgivenss is the honest recording of the events. No need to self blame for an attack on the US! No need to rationalize their reasons to attack. It happened and we move on but remember…

I was at McChord AFB at the time and remember being awakened by a call (it was still pretty early out there and I had returned from a long overseas mission in the early hours of the morning). The caller said, do you have your tv on? A bit grumpily I said no but quickly awakened when he told me what he was watching! As we headed to the command post for an update the base was starting to lock down! It was a first for many of us as we quickly raised the Threatcon levels and responded to the military leaders in DC. The images were horrible and carried the impact of the attacks to almost every citizen.

As the weeks dragged into years and many deployments later we are still searching and seeking justice for some of the leadership involved in the attacks while protecting our citizens from similar attacks. We have been successful in the latter while still seeking resolution of the first!

Our military personnel responded admirably and no attacks have occurred in the US since due to the efforts of many loyal and patriotic citizens! At the top of the list is our military personnel and their families. You continue to carry the burden of defending this great country along with local, state and federal law enforcement and safey personnel such as firemen. You have carried the burden of conflict, loneliness, fear for loved ones, work days most would not comprehend and yet you continue! Thank you!

Take the time to remember!