9-11-11

On 9-11-01, about 3000 people died.  That was a real tragedy.  3000 lives snuffed out without warning.  Every one of those people had a mother and a father, and many had spouses and children who will forever miss them.

Since then, over 4000 men and women have died to keep it from happening again.  The people who died on 9-11-01 were victims of cruel fate.  They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Some were true heroes: the firefighters and police, the folks on Flight 93, and others like Rick Rescorla went above and beyond and gave their lives for others, but they were placed in that position by fate and some a-hole terrorists. 

I do not mean to minimize the loss of the 9-11 victims at all, but those who have died since then have known very well what they were doing and the risks they were accepting.  By now, we are 10 years in and the majority of the Army and the USMC joined after 9-11-01.  Every one of them knew where they might be sent and what they might be called on to do, including dying, and they all signed up.  Their reasons are many: some may have wanted revenge for a loved one, some may have wanted adventure, or just to be a part of it, but I believe that the majority just believed that they are Americans and they bear a responsibility to the people of our great country to defend our way of life and our freedom.

I have spent a great deal of time at Walter Reed, and I have witnessed their sacrifice.  I've seen soldiers with no legs, wheeling themselves around in wheelchairs and waiving off any offers of a push, because they want to do it on their own.  I've seen lovely young wives sitting with their husbands who are missing multiple limbs or are disfigured in other ways and are not the same men they married - but they are there with them.  I've also been part of burying some and I've known some personally.  I know wives, who when you ask, "how long is your husband home", reply, "until he goes again", because he has gone 8 times (and he could have already retired, if he wanted to).

We should always take time to mourn and remember the victims but we should, likewise, take time to remeber and honor the heroes who have gone since to say "Never Again".

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." -- Matthew 10:28