Sunday, September 11, 2011

10 Years Ago Today

10 Years Ago

I was in Washington DC on 9/11/2001. I was stuck at a subway station for hours right after the  first attack . Later the smoke from the Pentagon drifted past my hotel window. I was stuck in DC for days. I was on one of the first planes allowed to fly after that tragic day.

When you were “there” it was so much more real. It wasn’t a TV show. The local news carried stores that wrenched the heart that didn’t make the national news. I will tell you one.

The local news was at the Pentagon shortly after it was struck by the airliner. People were still exiting the building. I remember seeing an army  colonel jogging from the building holding his hands up in front to him, his uniform smoldering in spots. As he got closer to the camera we could see that both his hands had been completely severed mid-palm. The paramedics ran up to him to help him. He said “No…No Help someone who needs it’ and continued running past them. That man exemplified all that is good and noble not only with our military but with our country.

President Obama, please keep our military not only strong but the strongest on Earth.  Please understand that there are far too many people in the world that interpret politeness and courtesy as weakness and traits of their prey.


We are so fortunate that we have not suffered many attacks since then, thank you Presidents Obama and Bush.

I try to stay away from inflammatory posts but on this day I can not. While our government has helped keep us safe from most additional attacks, the real reason we haven’t been attacked again is that nearly all the Terrorist are cowards. Let’s face it, two airliners were not blown up because the terrorist ran out of courage (thank God). One couldn’t light his shoe bomb and the other may have peed his pants so much the bomb would not detonate. I think it must be very difficult to recruit people who will actually carry out a suicide attack. At the last second most reasonable people would think twice about that 72 virgin BS. I also think that people loony enough (no insult to the loon bird intended) would have a difficult time acting “normal” enough to get past security.

I could go on and on, I’ll spare you and leave you with this final thought. I regret that I am and was too damned old to get in a situation that would allow me to draw a bead on a terrorist.

1 comment:

  1. It is, indeed, a sad day in the world.

    We often look back at old TV shows and say how idyllic the world was then. I wasn't all rosy, but it was much better, e.g. we were allowed to be with friends and family and walk them to the gate at the airport to say goodbye. A small act, but indicative of the changes we now face due to terrorism and fear.

    On this sad day I'm thinking about all who died and all the rest of us who were negatively impacted by the events of that day. The world will never be the same. Maybe, in time, things will improve greatly but I don't expect to see it in my lifetime. I just hope that the world will be a safe place for my 19-month-old grandson.

    Joe

    ReplyDelete