Posted by
Soldier Dad on Monday, September 11, 2006 9:41:53 AM
I was in the shower just
past 8am on September 11, 2001. My roommate banged on the door yelling,
“We’re at war; we’re at war!” I barely paused, thinking, “Well, we
finally invaded someone who deserved it.” But she persisted, and I
walked to the television in time to watch both towers fall. I think I
was in shock. But when the news station cut to live footage of the
Pentagon, fear took over. I thought of my uncle, whose office sat
inside those walls. To know that the center of the United States Armed
Forces was on fire was just about more than I could bear.
And I felt rage. Intense
anger at an enemy who not only wanted to win, but wanted to destroy
Americans and our way of life. And again I thought of the families torn
apart and the lives destroyed. It was as if each passing minute,
starting from the moment I walked to the TV on that clear September
day, strengthened my resolve to dedicate my life in service to our
great nation.
The heroism and sacrifice of that morning showed me that America can survive in spite of being brought to her knees.
The determination and
dedication of so many Americans in the days following proved to me that
America will survive so that others may know freedom.
And the struggles since
9/11 in the global War on Terror have confirmed to me that America must
survive so that forces of evil do not take away the world’s “shining
city on a hill.”