September 11th Attacks: 15 Years Later

BrancoRemember911It really does not seem like it has been a decade and a half since 19 savages hijacked four airplanes and used them to murder nearly 3,000 innocent Americans, injure 6,000 more, and cause lingering physical health issues for an estimated 18,000 more in addition to the mental and emotional hurt that the attacks caused for all Americans and our friends around the world.

It is hard to believe that there are now people who are old enough to drive or go see a dirty movie who weren’t even born yet when the towers fell, or when the seat of our national defense was struck, or when a handful of brave Americans made the monumentally difficult decision to sacrifice their own lives and the lives of a comparatively small number of others to prevent more inevitably massive casualties.

I am actually writing this piece more than a month in advance of the 15th anniversary of the attacks and, even as I do, I possess a mix of sadness, anger, and deep, intensely burning hatred for the enemy who struck a blow on America that day.  The same enemy who continues to strike similar blows on a smaller scale around the world and, indeed, right here on our own soil after either being welcomed with open arms or simply exposed to the sickness of radical islam’s abhorrent tenets.  Even now, my blood boils thinking about the attacks and the entire situation that has followed in the ensuing 15 years.

There was only cold comfort when, five and a half years ago, Operation Neptune Spear took US Special Forces into the land of an alleged ally who was harboring the terrorist responsible for the attacks where a US Navy SEAL killed Osama Bin Laden during the raid.

Anyone who isn’t of the generation for whom the September 11th attacks of 2001 are just a distant childhood memory or some thing that happened before they were born very likely remembers many of the details of that day very vividly, much as my parents have described remembering – even at elementary school age – the day that JFK was assassinated.  I recall clearly preparing to leave for class and getting early, incomplete news fragments from a roommate and the reactions of our instructors and how those reactions changed throughout the day as more details were made clear.

I also remember the coalescing of Americans and our allies, the unbridled patriotism, and the widely made promises to “Never Forget.”  Now, fifteen years later, when many have forgotten – if they ever remembered in the first place – and America is as divided as I have ever seen it, I am further saddened to see that many have taken up the position of “What difference at this point does it make?” – the same position put forward by Hillary Clinton in response to another September 11 islamist attack on Americans just four years ago today.

If you would like to share your recollections of the the 9/11 attacks, reflect, or comment, please feel free to do so in the comments section below or on the GunLink Forums.  Whether you join the discussion or not, please at least take some time out of your day to reflect and remember the victims of the September, 11 2001 attacks as well as the victims of other attacks the ongoing war that our enemies continue to wage around the globe.

September11NYT

Remembering 9-11 (top right) – A.F. Branco

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