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Greetings jriemer, tonk, KiA, Freepers, et al:

Two of my Coast Guard Reserve brothers never returned home to their families September 11. These reservists, one a firefighter, the other a police officer, gave their lives saving others at the WTC. Needless to say, we remember their sacrifice.

Many times people have asked “what have you done?” Without compromising operational security:

In less than three hours after the WTC attack, not only were we recalled to active duty; our unit was hard at work. Before all civilian airliners were on the ground, we had quickly secured the critical infrastructure of a major US port.

We often worked eighteen hour work days. The sleeping situation was so crowded, some nights even "the Chief" slept upon the floor. We put the equivalent of three years average run time upon each of our boats between September and December 2001.

Can’t say for sure if any terrorist attacks were prevented by our efforts. However, in my unit's specific area of responsibility, we made three highly probable contacts in our first year. Intelligence gained from the one of those contacts may have led to the capture of a US based Al-Qiada terrorist cell in another part of the country.

Now approaching the end of a second recall since September 11; my sincere thanks are for the FReepers of Free Republic. Your unfaltering support of our Homeland Security mission and our Nation’s war on terror is a great source of strength for those young men and ladies at the pointy end of the spear.

Guarding Liberty,
OLA

Thank You for Standing the Watch.
Thank You for your service to our country.

SEMPER PARATUS

Thanks, Coastie, for all you did on the 11th and all you continue to do. I know you folks are working overtime to keep our ports and coastlines safe. God bless you.