In the past 10 years, I’m sure that 9/11 has been analyzed, and discussed to the point that there is no more to be said. However, I have never had a chance to share my thoughts about this, so I am going to do so.
The Event
I was in my bedroom getting ready to go to work. (I live in Texas, the central time zone.) My wife called to me from the kitchen and told me to turn on the news because a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center. I remember wondering what kind of new student pilot would do such a thing. It wasn’t until the second plane struck that the lights went on. This was no accident – this was deliberate! I think that I am like most people in that when I see an event, my brain searches for some way to make sense of what I am seeing. I had nothing in my memory banks about commercial aircraft being used as weapons in New York City, so the only thing that made sense was a tragic accident with a pilot who did not know what he was doing. I can now identify with people who have witnessed, or participated in other “one of a kind” events such as Pearl Harbor. After I came to grips with what was really going on, I was dumbfounded, and mesmerized by the unfolding tragedy on television. My emotions about that day have ranged from reverence to rage.
Reverence
Those who perished on 9/11 were my fellow Americans. They were simply going about their everyday routine of making this country great by working. And as such, they are heroes to me. The everyday people on Flight 93 who rushed the cockpit in an effort to stop their plane from going on to its intended target, and made it crash in Pennsylvania are heroes to me.
The “first responders” were people who were willing to run up the stairs to face danger while everyone else was running down the stairs. They are also heroes to me. It was a combination of their training, and their desires to serve that kept them going up the stairs. I can’t quote it now, but I know I have heard it said that heroes are common people reacting to a difficult situation in an uncommon way. These, and all who helped are heroes, and their actions, and their memories are to be revered.
Rage
Our country has been fighting extremist Muslims since the dawn of the 19th century. It was President Thomas Jefferson who got tired of paying tribute money to the Barbary Pirates, and did something about it. Now here we are again. The enemy has a new name, but they still hate us, and they want to kill us. There has been a lot said over the past ten years about this not being the true face of Islam. That a few bad guys have kidnapped the true religion, and that Islam is not responsible for terrorist acts. Well I really don’t know if that is true or not. But what I do know is that the non- Islam world cannot fix Islam. We infidels have no standing in that world. Sure we can retaliate, and kill as many terrorists as we can, but they will be back. However, if it is true that this is not the true face of Islam, then “true” Islam has to fix it. Islam must clean its own house. If they, the Islamists who say they are innocent victims of these extremists are not willing to fix the problem within their own religion, then the truth is that they are a part of the problem.
