Remembering the Events of 9/11

As September 11 rolls around again, it is only right and good that we remember the events that occurred on that fateful day. We were attacked. It doesn’t matter what fancy words we use to hide this fact, the simple truth is…..we were violently and viciously attacked. I don’t care if those responsible had uniforms on, were members of a registered army or if they were on a holy mission. They attacked America and killed thousands of innocent people. To me, that makes them the bad guys.

It has been 9 years since that day, and the pictures and the stories of the people and the loss still move me. The earth stood still that morning while we watched in horror. 9/11 will forever be one of those days that you will remember for the rest of your life.

The images from that day are burned into our brains. It is only natural then that so much attention was focused on the anger and justice. But what happened to the people was absolutely amazing.

The absolute devastation we all felt that day merged into the greatest unity this country has seen in decades. We were one people, abused and violated yet determined to unite and heal from this atrocity.

As I watch these videos and reflect upon the images of that day, those feelings come back to me. I regret that I have allowed the unity I felt and the patriotism I embraced during those days to fade.

As it is with many larger than life events, stories abound, some heartwarming, many very sad, and others…. just plain ridiculous. Conspiracy theories about our own government behind the attack are just too fanciful to even listen too.

 One look at the president’s face that day, tells the story, as he sat in front of a group of children and had to guard his expression from scaring the kids. You see his mild amusement with the children change into an ashen, stoic, sort of terrified expression as he is told the truth. Can you imagine his discomfort having to sit there and look like nothing happened while emergency arrangements for his safety and his departure are quickly being arranged?

In memory of that day I would like to use this anniversary to remember and reflect upon the unity that the whole country embraced after the attack.  Those feelings are so far removed from the people of this nation today, but we are still those same people.  We must wonder… where is the love?  Where is the love for our fellow man, for our principles, and for our country?

Can it be that partisan politics can undermine the unity of the American people? Don’t we all truly want the best for our country?  I know I don’t have all the answers but I do know that 9 years ago the citizens of this country cared about each other and it just seems to me that the feeling of caring has all but disappeared.  What are we now showing the rest of the world – that we can’t even have a civil dialogue or disagree anymore?

As the remembrances come pouring out over the upcoming anniversary, let us remember.  Sure, we must not forget the attack and the horror of it all, but let us focus on the beacon of freedom that America truly is.   Let us once again embrace the unity of September 12. It seems these days that we find partisanship and politics in everything.  One cannot have a thought or do anything that isn’t regarded as partisan or biased.  With such divisiveness in our country, now is the perfect time for us to remember the emotions of that day.

We were the people that we always wanted to be.

Does it really take a national tragedy for us to believe in America again?

This Saturday, undoubtedly, there will be remembrances across the country.  I urge all of you to join me in making this the day that we restore the feelings of unity and pride in this country.  The nation turned to God for answers and solace.  And as our wounds slowly healed, we put those feelings away.  We forgot the lessons we learned. We forgot that united, America is the greatest nation in the world.

So let us once again, remember the history of this day.  Remember the pain, the sadness and even the anger and then use all of it to renew our spirit of United We Stand and Divided We Fall. See the truth and accept that although we appear broken and divided and that times are hard for so many people, that if we stand together, America is still the land of the free.  Together, we will continue to keep America the shining city on a hill.

For me, so many things come to mind as I think about 9/11. Our economy could have collapsed that day, but it didn’t.  Gas prices could have soared that day, but they didn’t. The stock market could have crashed that day, but it didn’t.  Conditions were right for this attack to have devastated this country, both financially and emotionally.  But none of that happened.  It is what the bad guys wanted to happen.  It is what they hoped would happen.  But the bad guys didn’t count on the American people joining together in support of freedom.

We must never forget the terrible events of that day, just as we must never forget the efforts in all of the major conflicts that we have been involved in. The British statesman, Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797) once said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

To me, that means that if we do not want these horrible things to happen to us again, we must understand the evil behind such acts. Who can understand such evil? To kill so indiscriminately and then to celebrate in the streets as though you have just done a wonderful thing, I surely don’t understand it at all.

The bad guys call it a holy war.  What kind of holiness sanctions killing like that?  Then turns around and calls itself the religion of peace.  It doesn’t make sense but evil rarely does.  For us to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that we are all nicey-nicey now with the Muslim world, is just downright ignorant.

There are solutions.  We have to find them.  But you can’t solve a problem by ignoring it.  You can’t work on solutions until you realize that there is a problem.  We cannot sit back and hope that everything will be fine just because we want it to be.  We have enemies.  Our enemies are also the enemies of freedom.  If there is one thing about America that towers above all else, is the love of freedom.  It is not only what we stand for, but what we fight for, and even die for.