Memory and Courage

It's September 11th once more. Please take a moment to remember all those who passed on that terrible day.

. . .

Thanks.

September 11th . . . (Note, that it is spelled out and NOT referred to as "9-11". Please don't call it that, the events of that day were too important to ever be "nicknamed" It strikes me as damn disrespectful to the folks who went through it.) September 11th was an important day in my life. It changed the way I saw the world. No, I didn't lose anyone directly to the attacks but I stood outside my office on that awful morning and I could see the smoke and dust rising into the sky with my own eyes. I stood there, knowing that the planes had flown over my head only moments before and I'd been blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. I stood there, not knowing if people I loved had been in the Towers that morning (My oldest brother worked in Tower Two regularly. Thank God, he overslept that morning and was caught in traffic on the Jersey side of the river when it happened.) I stood there, a slow dread awakening in my heart as I realized that with a difference in flight time of less than five minutes, those planes could have obliterated everything and everyone, that I loved. My wife, my son, my entire family . . . had all come within moments of death and none of us had even known the danger was there.

We hadn't even suspected.

Today, six years later, we are a nation at war. Men and women in uniform are thousands of miles from home, fighting in places and conditions most of us can barely imagine, to ensure such events do not happen again. They are putting their bodies between my family and a recurrence of the events of that dreadful day. There aren't enough words in any language for me to thank them properly, so I'll just have to settle for "Thank You". If you wear, have worn, or will one day wear, the uniform of a United States soldier, no matter what branch, thank you for keeping the ones I love safe. Thank you for making it possible for us to sleep quiet in our beds each night without fear of what might fall on us from above. Today is September 11th, and we all need to remember those who died in the Towers but we must also remember those who have fallen since to make sure it would not happen again. Most of all, we must also remember those who still stand -weapon in hand- to make certain it never will.

As of yesterday, my brother-in-law Bill (you may remember him from this post about his working in support of hurricane Katrina) moved to the front lines of that fight. He has deployed to Iraq, leaving behind his wife and three children in order to protect all of us. Take a moment today to think about him -and everyone like him- and to say a prayer for their safe and speedy return.

Later.