I do. I was driving my youngest to preschool, we were almost there. I was on Olive Blvd, a 4 lane thoroughfare in West County St. Louis. It was a beautiful fall day here in St. Louis. Suddenly, as if in unison, several of the cars in front of me, in both lanes, began to swerve and brake. The car in the lane next to me began to drift over into my lane. I honked my horn as I maneuvered slightly into the center lane. The woman looked over at me, corrected her driving and rolled down her window, I rolled down mine. I could here her as well as many other nearby car radios, all playing loud talk radio. She said, “I’m sorry! It’s terrible!”
What was terrible? Apparently, everyone driving on Olive Blvd. except me, knew something big was happening. I turned on my radio to try to find out what was going on.
By the time I hit the next light, I had heard the news. A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, and another had crashed into the Pentagon.
Besides the terrible and confusing bad news coming from the radio, it was a beautiful fall day here in St. Louis and as I arrived at Sarah’s school, all the children and teachers were out on the playground. Her teacher, Mark, I had known for several years, Marcia had known him since high school. Although I was quite unsure about anyone’s safety at this point, I knew Sarah would be as safe with Mark as she would be with me.
As Sarah ran off to play with her friends, I walked toward Mark to talk with him. His face revealed the answer to my question before it was even asked. “Have you heard what’s going on?”
“Yes.” he answered grimly.
“It’s crazy! You guys be careful today.”
“We will Brian, you too.”
“I’ll pick her up early, call me for any reason.”
“Will do. Don’t worry.” he assured me.
“Thanks Mark.” I said as I left.
As soon as I was back in the car I learned that a second plane had now crashed into the Towers. My heart sank with uncertainty. What was going on? How could this be happening?
I quickly drove home. On the way, I passed my older daughter’s elementary school. Normally on a day as pretty as this, the children would all be outside, but they weren’t, there wasn’t a kid in sight and hardly a car on the road.
Soon I was back home and I quickly plopped myself down in front of the TV to find out what was going on.
Both towers had been hit by planes and were on fire. A plane had crashed into the Pentagon and it too burned through a huge gaping hole in one side of the structure. I watched in horror and disbelief as the buildings burned and people jumped from windows hundreds of feet in the air to their deaths.
As I sat there watching people jump from the buildings, I wondered what they were thinking as they fell. Were they thinking they might survive? That their chances were better? The end would be less painful? Did they know the building would collapse? Did they know they had no other way out? Could they have made it?
They made a choice, in desperation. Was it chicken little syndrome? Was the world ending, so it’s time to jump out the window? What were they thinking? I was having trouble understanding this action. I wasn’t used to seeing people jump to their death from a skyscraper.
Soon the towers collapsed, thousands were dead, and one of America’s largest cities was in chaos, on fire, and covered in debris.
The Pentagon had a huge hole in it and was on fire.
There were still other planes missing and soon the news came of the flight 93 crash. How many more planes would crash? What would happen next?
I cried uncontrollably as I watched TV in self imposed torture for the next 6 hours until I had to pick up the kids from school.
The planes stopped flying. All of America was stopped in it’s tracks, in wonderment, and disbelief, as the largest attack on American soil since the Civil War unfolded before their very eyes on world wide television.
Tragic times like these always produce a lot of sad stories as well as hero’s. The New York City Police and Fire departments fought bravely, to save as many lives as possible, many would loose their lives trying to save others.
I remember September 11th, 2001. I remember feeling a deep sadness that left a knot in my stomach and a lump in my throat. I remember feeling angry, sad, mortal, and unsure about the future for America and my children. It’s a feeling I would rather never experience again if given a choice. I was hurt, hurt to the core of my soul. America was hurt.
I remember.
Do you?
George Bush had been our new President a mere 9 months when he was informed that America was under attack.
It was the attack on Pearl Harbor that caused America’s entry into WWII. Pearl Harbor was an act of war, just as these modern day attacks were.
During WWII, there were giant signs on aircraft carriers that read, “KILL MORE JAPS” and “THE ONLY GOOD JAP IS A DEAD JAP.”
America took action, strong action. Action that would send a message to the world that said, “we will not allow this.” The time had come for America to send that message once again.
No American President in history would have ignored Pearl Harbor and I can’t imagine a President ignoring 911. There would be no surrender from this ememy, this time it’s us, or them. This time, the message would have to be, “we will not tolerate this, and if you behave this way, we will hunt you down and kill you.”
I feel a lot of people have forgotten 911. They have forgotten the horror of that day. They have forgotten their thirst for justice.
George Bush did what he had to do, and what he felt would be in the best interests of this country. He took action to hunt down the responsible parties, and prevent a day like 911 from ever happening again. He acted for the good of the country without personal regard.
Other’s like Bill and Hillary Clinton, scurried to cover their trail of mistakes that helped lead to this tragic day. They hid and had destroyed information that would prevent America from ever knowing the whole truth about 911.
Recently, Hillary Clinton, with her finger pointing and stabbing, said (I’m paraphrasing here from memory), “If I was President in 2002, we would have never gone to war, and if I’m elected in 2009 I will end it.”
I would like to address that two part statement, in two parts. The first part of this statement is most likely a self-serving lie, but either way clarifies more than ever that Hillary Clinton is not the President for me, nor is she the President for America. 911 was an act of war. War was called for, unless we desired to continue to be attacked. The enemy that attacked us will not surrender, and must be destroyed.
Secondly, I believe that if Hillary Clinton does get elected, she will pull out of Iraq. Al Qaeda will rebuild with unlimited funding from Iraq and Iran, and America will be attacked again, and again, and again. They will strike in the heartland of America from within, and thousand, perhaps millions more Americans will die.
I love how Hillary, and others in her class, often say, “Well, if I’d known then, what I know now, I wouldn’t have voted for the war.”
Well, if I’d known yesterday, what I know today, I could have made a million dollars in the stock market or hit the Power Ball. Give me a break. Stand by your actions you weak spineless trash. Statements like these are not for the benefit of America. This is a a self-serving statement.
People like Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi, are hurting American right now, weakening her from within. They are working to prevent America from sending the message that needs to be sent to all terrorists of the world. We will not tolerate this. Instead of working as a team, united toward the goal of protecting America, as they promised they would, they work internally to weaken and disable the effectiveness of the current administration strictly for political purposes. Self-serving purposes.
I would recommend to all of America, if Hillary Clinton becomes President of America, buy arms, lots of them, and all kinds. Begin training and learn how to use them. Prepare for war. Prepare to defend your home and your family. Prepare for a war in your front yard.
Remember the Alamo! Remember 911.
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