Todd Beamer is the guy who tells me things I always wanted to know about the fellows who made up the Maryland 400 at the Battle of Brooklyn. Or, even those guys in the camera shots struggling ashore at Normandy ~ our lives live at the counsel of the grace granted to us by the efforts of heroes ~ many of whom we can never know.
Vanity bump.
I was directed over to a discussion where everyone was whining about their tv being interrupted by 9/11 specials and how they weren’t going to watch because it was all btdt, 10 years ago, move along. These were grown people with families who should be a bit wiser. Disgusting.
9/11 still leaves a burning hatred for what those bastards did to the country I love
I’ve learned to dread this day because I’m not normally a hateful person and don’t like feeling this way
A couple of MOAB dropped on Medina would sure square things up
Some people woke up, others refused.
The attack and the scope of it was a surprise only to those who pay attention to nothing of any sort outside their daily routine. Or to those who decided long before not to know, in exactly the same way that a wife whose husband starts not coming home until four in the morning half the time and never wants sex doesn't know he is cheating.
The Muslims had attacked the twin towers before.
I was with 2nd MEF during the ninety to ninety one war.
At that time, a lot of us thought it was a blunder of incalculable proportions to deploy the fuel air explosives we used on the Iraqi forces. After decades of manuevering to prevent the world's tinpot dictators from geting access to nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons...we went and showed how much damage could be done with jet fuel. Something readily available.
On 9/11, I spent a lot of time on the phone with “I told you so”s. Not because I was proud, it was a prognostication on the order of telling your wife the car with an empty tank wont make it to town if she doesn't get gas first. My intention was to get people I knew to actually study what the Koran and the Hadith teach. Some have listened, but most know not one whit more today than they did then.
Semper Fidelis.
Sadly, America is weaker today than it was on 9/12/01.
I volunteered at a local rememberance event today. Several fire departments from all over the region did a memorial stair climb to honor the 343 firefighters who died 10 years ago today. It was pretty moving, they all had a badge on showing the photo and name of the person they were climbing for.
I drove one of the freight elevators in Rennaisance Tower to carry these people back down to the basement after they climbed 55 stories of the building their first lap. Firefighters are such jokers, I have 20 people in full gear, some carrying coiled fire hoses, and every trip somebody made a fart joke. On their second lap they got to take the regular elevators down with their families and friends who met them after then end of their total 110 stories of climbing stairs.
It was funny, the elevator was air conditioned but by the time we went from the 53rd floor to the basement it was pretty steamy in there. God Bless those folks, I am humbled to do my tiny bit to help them out.