Sunday, September 10, 2006
September 11, 2001
Once again we mark the anniversary of September 11, 2001, one
of the most tragic days in the history of this country. In my
view, the events of that day rank with December 7, 1941 as a day
that should be burned into the memory of every American.
As we get further down the line from 9/11/01, and success in the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq seems at times to be slipping from our grasp, I think it's very important to remember just what happened five years ago in New York, Washington, D.C. and in the sky over the rolling hills of Pennsylvania that morning.
I hope you'll take a minute to reflect on the events of that day 1,826 days ago. Think of the two commercial jet liners - Flights 11 and 175 - that crashed into the World Trade Center Towers with virtually full fuel loads and hundreds of passengers aboard. Remember the images of the fire balls as those flying bombs sliced through the towers, instantly killing all the passengers. Recall those towers imploding, vaporizing most of the remaining occupants of those buildings almost as quickly as it takes me to type this sentence.
Remember Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, snuffing out the lives of the passengers and dozens of workers in that building. Remember the bravery of the passengers of Flight 93, as they successfully diverted that plane from it's intended target in our nation's capitol and sacrificed their lives to save countless others when they fought the terrorists to take back the airplane and crashed in that field in Pennsylvania.
Remember that more than 3,000 lives were taken that morning, and the lives of thousands of friends and families that were torn apart forever by the loss of their loved ones.
Remember the turmoil, apprehension and uncertainty those acts have caused in this country and abroad in the intervening years.
I recently found a memorial site created by CNN which lists every person who lost their lives during that terrorist attack on 9/11/01. I've placed a link to that site on my Useful Links page, if you care to visit it.
As I scrolled down the lists, viewing the photographs, reading the names and ages and the companies for which they worked, I felt an angry lump form in my throat. I read name after name of people who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and Marsh & McLennan, companies who lost virtually their entire staffs in the attack. I read names of people who worked at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of one of the towers - dishwashers, waiters, bus boys and cooks - who worked hard every day to scrape out an existence for their families, only to ride the debris of the collapsing building to a horrible death.
I thought of a friend who, as a retired executive of Marsh & McLennan, lost more than 100 close personal friends that morning. I thought of another friend, a systems specialist with the Twin Towers as his territory, who watched from a tug boat evacuating him and others to Brooklyn as the towers imploded, knowing that he was witnessing the death of hundreds of friends and clients. I thought of yet another friend who, in his office in a building adjacent to the towers, was knocked off his feet by the second airplane crash and watched the fireball boil past his window as he tried to regain his feet.
I read the names of more than one hundred military men and women who died in the Pentagon, never knowing what hit them as Flight 175 tore through the building and exploded.
The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just four months after I was born. My parents helped me celebrate my fourth birthday on the day Japan surrendered - August 14, 1945, VJ Day. I have no personal recollection of World War II except "playing war" as a child, but I've learned much about it. I know of the sacrifice my parent's generation made to defend and protect our liberty and to, literally, save the world. I remember how this country helped rebuild our vanquished enemies, Germany and Japan, which allowed them to become two of the most successful nations in the world.
September 11, 2001 is my Pearl Harbor. It is a day that people my age and the next generation will never forget because those video images of airplanes crashing, buildings burning and imploding and people throwing themselves to certain death to escape the flames have been seared into our brains forever. The threat to our liberty and freedom - and to the future of mankind - by those terrorists who attacked our country and who have vowed to destroy our way of life, is very real.
As you read the newspaper and magazine accounts from the battlegrounds in the middle east, and watch the news reports of our young men and women fighting for our freedom against enemies who don't care about their own lives or those of their children as they continue to perform acts of terrorism, remember the bravery of our noble young warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan. No one drafted them to fight, and sometimes die, in those hot, hostile middle eastern deserts - they volunteered. Despite the persistent negative news coverage, and rules of engagement that sometimes prohibit them from effectively dealing with their enemy, they proudly stand their ground and try to help rebuild the infrastructure while dealing with insurgent terrorism every day.
There is no "good war". War, by definition, means the destruction of your enemy. We did not start this conflict - the cowardly terrorists of 9/11/01 who launched their attack that bright, sunny morning did. It's up to our leaders, and the citizens of this country, to find the resolve to finish this war. If we do not defeat our enemies on their turf, we will fight them on ours, again and again and again.
I encourage you to take a moment to look at the photograph at the top of this page. That cross and flag stand atop Mt. Soledad in La Jolla as a monument to men and women who fought for our freedom in past wars. Please use these symbols as a reminder that those freedoms are worth the sacrifice. Do not turn your back on the men and women who serve this country with bravery, dedication and patriotism as they do their very best to keep this country safe from terrorism. They deserve your support because they earn it every day with their sacrifice and blood. Please don't let them down.
11:59 pm pdt
As we get further down the line from 9/11/01, and success in the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq seems at times to be slipping from our grasp, I think it's very important to remember just what happened five years ago in New York, Washington, D.C. and in the sky over the rolling hills of Pennsylvania that morning.
I hope you'll take a minute to reflect on the events of that day 1,826 days ago. Think of the two commercial jet liners - Flights 11 and 175 - that crashed into the World Trade Center Towers with virtually full fuel loads and hundreds of passengers aboard. Remember the images of the fire balls as those flying bombs sliced through the towers, instantly killing all the passengers. Recall those towers imploding, vaporizing most of the remaining occupants of those buildings almost as quickly as it takes me to type this sentence.
Remember Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, snuffing out the lives of the passengers and dozens of workers in that building. Remember the bravery of the passengers of Flight 93, as they successfully diverted that plane from it's intended target in our nation's capitol and sacrificed their lives to save countless others when they fought the terrorists to take back the airplane and crashed in that field in Pennsylvania.
Remember that more than 3,000 lives were taken that morning, and the lives of thousands of friends and families that were torn apart forever by the loss of their loved ones.
Remember the turmoil, apprehension and uncertainty those acts have caused in this country and abroad in the intervening years.
I recently found a memorial site created by CNN which lists every person who lost their lives during that terrorist attack on 9/11/01. I've placed a link to that site on my Useful Links page, if you care to visit it.
As I scrolled down the lists, viewing the photographs, reading the names and ages and the companies for which they worked, I felt an angry lump form in my throat. I read name after name of people who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and Marsh & McLennan, companies who lost virtually their entire staffs in the attack. I read names of people who worked at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of one of the towers - dishwashers, waiters, bus boys and cooks - who worked hard every day to scrape out an existence for their families, only to ride the debris of the collapsing building to a horrible death.
I thought of a friend who, as a retired executive of Marsh & McLennan, lost more than 100 close personal friends that morning. I thought of another friend, a systems specialist with the Twin Towers as his territory, who watched from a tug boat evacuating him and others to Brooklyn as the towers imploded, knowing that he was witnessing the death of hundreds of friends and clients. I thought of yet another friend who, in his office in a building adjacent to the towers, was knocked off his feet by the second airplane crash and watched the fireball boil past his window as he tried to regain his feet.
I read the names of more than one hundred military men and women who died in the Pentagon, never knowing what hit them as Flight 175 tore through the building and exploded.
The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just four months after I was born. My parents helped me celebrate my fourth birthday on the day Japan surrendered - August 14, 1945, VJ Day. I have no personal recollection of World War II except "playing war" as a child, but I've learned much about it. I know of the sacrifice my parent's generation made to defend and protect our liberty and to, literally, save the world. I remember how this country helped rebuild our vanquished enemies, Germany and Japan, which allowed them to become two of the most successful nations in the world.
September 11, 2001 is my Pearl Harbor. It is a day that people my age and the next generation will never forget because those video images of airplanes crashing, buildings burning and imploding and people throwing themselves to certain death to escape the flames have been seared into our brains forever. The threat to our liberty and freedom - and to the future of mankind - by those terrorists who attacked our country and who have vowed to destroy our way of life, is very real.
As you read the newspaper and magazine accounts from the battlegrounds in the middle east, and watch the news reports of our young men and women fighting for our freedom against enemies who don't care about their own lives or those of their children as they continue to perform acts of terrorism, remember the bravery of our noble young warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan. No one drafted them to fight, and sometimes die, in those hot, hostile middle eastern deserts - they volunteered. Despite the persistent negative news coverage, and rules of engagement that sometimes prohibit them from effectively dealing with their enemy, they proudly stand their ground and try to help rebuild the infrastructure while dealing with insurgent terrorism every day.
There is no "good war". War, by definition, means the destruction of your enemy. We did not start this conflict - the cowardly terrorists of 9/11/01 who launched their attack that bright, sunny morning did. It's up to our leaders, and the citizens of this country, to find the resolve to finish this war. If we do not defeat our enemies on their turf, we will fight them on ours, again and again and again.
I encourage you to take a moment to look at the photograph at the top of this page. That cross and flag stand atop Mt. Soledad in La Jolla as a monument to men and women who fought for our freedom in past wars. Please use these symbols as a reminder that those freedoms are worth the sacrifice. Do not turn your back on the men and women who serve this country with bravery, dedication and patriotism as they do their very best to keep this country safe from terrorism. They deserve your support because they earn it every day with their sacrifice and blood. Please don't let them down.
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