9/11: Never Forget

Seven years ago today our country watched in horror as terrorists used hijacked commercial aircraft to attack us. The aircraft were taken over and piloted by men intent on trading their lives for hundreds of thousands of innocent American lives - as well as citizens of other countries who may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Such circumstances lead us to make statements we never thought would be comprehendible; statements like:

• Thank God we only lost about 3,000 citizens.
• The Pentagon was attacked and it wasn't even the lead news story of the day.
• The brave people on Flight 93 whose resistance against the attackers led to their own deaths were heroes.

Our lives in America changed in ways we never would have imagined in our wildest nightmares and in ways we wish we didn't have to accept or deal with. Our every day reality changed. That we can be thankful to have only lost 3,000 citizens; that an attack on our military's prime command center wasn't the lead news story; that we would honor a plane crash as successful resistance. These are realities that force us to accept a new existence in America: an existence that accepts, on a daily basis, that we may again be the target for a terrorist attack. Indeed, we know we have been and that many more lives would have been lost except for the excellent work of our federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies.

I didn't feel up to the task of writing an entire article about 9/11 on my own, so I asked for help from a lot of folks. I asked them to send me over thoughts or feelings they have on this anniversary. I think it's a comment on the impact of this date that many of those asked responded within 10 or 15 minutes. These are the same people that - at times - it can take a week to get a reply from. For this they put all else on hold; they put it aside; they MADE the time to share what they feel and think. One was worried whether or not their comments sounded "dumb". My reply was simple and I'd make the same comment to each of you who wants to share how you feel today: It's what you feel. That's intensely personal and no man has the right to call your feelings dumb.

So, the remainder of this article is going to be comments I've received back from those I contacted. As you read them I would ask you to think about a few things and then act accordingly:

1. Is your American flag flying proudly every day?
2. Have you thanked a person in uniform lately? ANYONE who protects, serves, defends or performs any other public safety function needs appreciation.

From John Wills, O.com Training & Ethics contributor:

The scenes that I witnessed while on site as an FBI Agent at both the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania will forever be etched in my memory. If I ever had any doubts that Satan was indeed among us, working to destroy our wonderful country and extinguish it's bright beacon of freedom, those doubts were laid to rest on that day. I thought to myself that our way of life in America will forever be changed by these tragic, historic events. And as I watched five bus loads of United Airlines flight 93 families stand on top of the knoll at Shaksville, PA, my resolve was strengthened as was my faith. My hope is that those brave Americans that perished on that fateful day will never be forgotten.

From Ronnie Garrett, editor of Law Enforcement Technology magazine: