An instant in history that literally shook the world.
Just like 12/7/41, or 11/22/63, practically everybody over the age of fifteen remembers exactly where they were, and what they were doing on 9/11/2001, when the USA suffered three horrible terrorist attacks within the space of four hours. The attacks on the World Trade Center were the most successful; the Pentagon only partially, and the third - presumably intended to target the White House - was ultimately thwarted and failed {fatally} over southwestern Pennsylvania. Nearly three thousand people were killed in the attacks, with tens of thousands of other lives affected by the "collateral damage."
Like most of us in this country, and around the world, I was absolutely gobsmacked by the naked horror that unfolded right before my eyes on live TV. I had just got home from work, when my then-wife called me into the bedroom. I walked in one minute before United Flight 175 struck the south Tower. Immediately afterwards, we both looked at each other and said in unison "Is this some kind of bad movie plot?" We were in stunned disbelief for the next hour - until the tragic collapse of first the south, then the north Tower shocked us back into grim reality. We spent the rest of the day glued to the news, gradually learning of the other attacks, the scrambling of our government and military, and the security clampdowns nation {and later world} - wide.
That long, nightmarishly awful day was culminated near dusk. I was out in the back yard with our three dogs, letting them do their nightly business before we settled in for the evening. It was dead quiet; no air traffic to speak of, not even the usual sounds from the highway a couple miles down the road from us. All of a sudden, a complete wing of Stealth bombers and fighters {there were at least a dozen planes, all told} literally materialized right over our heads, on their way north to patrol the East Coast before embarking on their first run over Afghanistan. They flew tight and low - roughly 600-750 feet altitude - and freaked the living daylights out of both the dogs, and myself.
That long, nightmarishly awful day was culminated near dusk. I was out in the back yard with our three dogs, letting them do their nightly business before we settled in for the evening. It was dead quiet; no air traffic to speak of, not even the usual sounds from the highway a couple miles down the road from us. All of a sudden, a complete wing of Stealth bombers and fighters {there were at least a dozen planes, all told} literally materialized right over our heads, on their way north to patrol the East Coast before embarking on their first run over Afghanistan. They flew tight and low - roughly 600-750 feet altitude - and freaked the living daylights out of both the dogs, and myself.
Thus began our War on Terror, less than twelve hours after the Twin Towers had fallen.
In the decade since the 9/11 Attacks, the whole world has changed, and not necessarily for the better. The WOT has become bitterly ensnared by politics of the very worst sort. Save for the first eighteen months, it has not been properly conducted at all. Hussein and Bin Laden might both be dead, yes, but both could have - and more importantly, should have - been taken out within the first year of our involvement. Politics, and politics alone are what kept both alive longer than necessary; and politics are what's prolonging the WOT, and blurring the objectives for success and conclusion.
Hell, politics brought about the attacks in the first place. It doesn't matter who you believe was "really" behind the Attacks - whether Al Qaeda, our own Government, the "black helicopter cult," the Osmonds, or whoever - the victims are still just as dead, and the damage is still just as deep and widespread as it always was. At this late date, who gives a monkey's about who "really" did it? Isn't our world troubled enough by the general fallout from that hideous Monday, without having a scapegoat to blame? Those who still shout "Conspiracy!" and "I'm a 9/11 Truther!" at every opportunity only earn mild scorn and derision from me, these days; I guess every generation needs would-be Don Quixotes, if only for comic relief. Our 9/11 Dead will still be dead, and the damage will still be done, no matter what may or may not be proven in the future.
Ten years is however, more than ample time for some healing to happen, which it has. The Ground Zero site of the worst of the Attacks in New York is about 65% reconstituted, at the time of this writing. The Freedom Tower, when finished, will be a fitting crown jewel in the completed site, and also a rather fitting finger in the eye of those who wish us ill {or worse}. Likewise, the amphibious transport USS New York - constructed with steel salvaged from the Twin Towers - serves as an active reminder to the world that We Will Never Forget, nor will we be Broken by Cowards.
Yes, an awful lot has changed since that bright, clear, cool early-fall day a decade ago, when Death rained from the skies without warning. I shall never be the same - nor will I ever, ever Forget. May God Bless and Keep all those who perished on that day, or because of that day. And may He also have Mercy on the rest of us, as well.
9/11. Let's roll.............
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