August 11, 2011 – September 11, 2001: A Tribute to those murdered on 9/11 – Day Thirty Two
Categories: Patriotic
Tags: September 11 2001 9/11 World Trade Center Twin Towers Ayman al-Zawahiri Ron DiFrancesco Erick Stakelbeck Shanksville Tarzana Joe Joseph Francis Holland III Andrea Lyn Haberman Taliban United Flight 93 Rick Rescorla
Our third president Thomas Jefferson warned us: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” How many of us even remember that he said that? We had better remember and practice.
If we do not, then men such as Ayman al-Zawahiri will remind us – after the fact – the fact that he and his “soldiers” will have overrun this country, like locusts. Ayman is described as the “mastermind” behind a recently announced terror plot. He is moving like the new CEO of a business, seeking to place his stamp on the corporation, to prove that he is worthy to fill the shoes, or robes of the previous CEO. Good luck with that, Ayman. Oh, while you are strategizing, you may want to check the bottom of the sea, where your predecessor is supposedly swimming with the fishees.
Today is the final day of my 32 day tribute to those murdered on September 11, 2001, by the “associates” of Ayman. Even when it becomes chic to “move on” and forget about these people who were murdered, I will be totally unhip and keep remembering. It is not every day in one’s lifetime that one sees planes crashing into buildings, killing thousands of human beings, and it is not from the imagination and craft of Hollywood. How can I forget?
Ron DiFrancesco is one survivor who will be forever haunted by the fact that he survived, while others did not. I cannot imagine how one deals with that paralyzing emotion, causing him to states, “I will carry with me to my grave whether I should have taken somebody with me.” I pray that in time, with the continued love of his family and friends, he can find a good measure of peace.
One journalist who is doing his part to ensure that we remain ever vigilant is Erick Stakelbeck. I suspect that Mr. Stakelbeck is not going to “have lunch in this town again,” in this case the town being DC, instead of Hollywood. He wants to “wake Americans up before we find ourselves in Europe’s predicament.” Is he too late? He just might want to start with those Americans who occupy what I term “prime real estate in DC.”
Sorry. He cannot start with them. Some of them are part of the problem and not the solution. I will be honest. I want to go bury my head in the sand, but I won’t, not when “sand” is being imported here. We either make a stand now, or we will be buried in the sand. I pray to God that the next election cycle this country gets more leaders who understand this threat.
Shanksville, that field in Pennsylvania, where Todd Beamer and the other souls of Flight 93, sacrificed their lives so that DC could survive, was to have a “crescent of embrace”? The architect was surprised by the public outcry? Is he tone, crescent deaf? Or, is this just a case of political correctness run amuck, or run in a crescent? He makes the case that if something happens to a friend, you embrace the friend. That is true. However, you do not run up to the symbol of the “something” that happened to your friend, and embrace that “something.” Let’s be honest here. From now until the end of the world in its current shape, symbols matter. Personally, I like the completeness of a circle.
Ah, the US taxpayer, on the hook for salaries for jailed terrorists, not even of the US, or living in the US?:
“The U.S. funds the PA’s general budget. Through the PA budget, the U.S. is paying the salaries of terrorist murderers in prison and funding the glorification and role modeling of terrorists,” the report reads.
Taxpayers, it is a good thing that you just had a long Labor Day Weekend in order to refresh your tired bodies. Don’t relax too long though. That PA budget awaits your “contribution.” I cannot even state that you are “asleep at the wheel” because you do not control the wheel. As serfs, you are in the galleys of the US Titanic.
On a lighter note, the television series, Wind At My Back, was affected by 9/11. Imagine being an actor, filming scenes around a Christmas theme, and having to pretend to be joyous and merry. I am not sure I could have done that job, on that day. But, it is a testimony to the skill and professionalism of the cast. Even before I knew about this little bit of history, I had often remarked to myself about the skill of the actors, even those who were then kids. They were so good, that they made me forget that they were “just acting.”
On Friday afternoon, as I was preparing this final tribute, I was listening to the Hugh Hewitt show, and he, as promised, had excerpts from his show on September 11, 2001. He also had on the “poet-in-residence” of the Hugh Hewitt show, Tarzana Joe. Tarzana Joe invited listeners to e-mail him for a copy of the poems that he read. I sent off my e-mail and received the following poems of poignancy and pathos:
|
Peacetime
It can still happen as before The threats may wane but never cease Should we be sure in time of war So they must serve in time of peace For peace is such a fragile place And such an easy thing to lose A flash of lightning in the sky A whispered rumor in the news
So who are these who volunteer? Who give a day and then a year? And then their lives by their own choices We hump the boonies clad in green We grunts who keep our honor clean We stand in line; we do a job We take our place for the good old mob
I signed up when I was 20 but knew it when I was ten I wanted to be a soldier and serve like the fighting men My father used to mention when he spoke in that certain way And broke out the old mementos, on the 4th weekend in May
I was sent there to watch the ballots On a cloudless, stifling morn I was there at the birth of a nation I was not when my son was born
I lost a dozen friendships; it was something I couldn’t explain Why would a woman want to and what would a woman gain?
I have no foe to conquer but I’m keeping my rifle clean I polish the brass and buckles and fight off the old routine I don’t see the rocket’s glaring or the dawn’s revealing light I just stand at my post and whisper, “Not here, Lord. And not tonight.” I was on the plane that faltered On a deck in a pitching sea The printed my yearbook picture Yes, America, that was me
They had no thought of glory won Just duty seen and duty done The souls who serve in Peacetime Is there a spot where I may sit? A place where candles can be lit To those that die in Peacetime
There is no monument it seems For those who lose their breath and dreams The souls we mourn in Peacetime They’ve given more than their fair share We offer them this simple prayer God grant them Peacetime
By Tarzana Joe and the Hugh Hewitt audience
By Tarzana Joe Spring will never come again
For Poets Against the War
We have this news: Saddam is why God made B-52s
Peter and Philip Raimondi for their Father, Peter
Just around the corner
All is well And then he was gone Death is nothing at all I have only slipped away into the next room
Why should I be out of mind Because I am out of sight Laugh as we always laughed At the little jokes we enjoyed together Life means all that it ever meant. Later, I was listening to the Dennis Miller show and heard from the father of Joseph Francis Holland III. Mr. Holland left a son just ten days old. Also on the show, was the father of Andrea Lyn Haberman. She was in that building for a meeting, on a trip that she “steeled” herself for, a trip that she did not want to go on, arrived 20 minutes for her meeting, and was murdered. She never got to attend her wedding that she had been planning. And we are expected to behave as if this is all in the past? Never. There is one last poem that I would like to share: 9 - 11 - 01
A Perspective
Twin Towers stood proudly touching the sky On the day men and women were chosen to die By the hand of men flying jet plane missiles Into the Towers as flaming epistles.
Days of sunshine, snow and rain Battered their stalwart, sturdy frame Seasons passed as lives pressed on Until the day the Towers crashed down.
For those who schemed this diabolic plan Their dreams were fulfilled to a man No more would America ignore their plight For now America would have to fight!
How else could such hatred be conducted Unless their challenge came unobstructed All eyes were riveted to the sight Of jet planes hijacked in their flight.
Unbelievably -- when the planes collided The majestic Towers were ignited By the hatred sown in human hearts Was this the end? No, merely the start!
It was the start of a clarion call A call that was heard by one and all! This day of infamy shattered our illusion Of living life blissfully without collusion.
The enemies of freedom chose broad daylight To attack this land of the free, this land of might The Twin Towers fell down into a heap What freedom's enemies have sown, they will reap.
For reaping and sowing went hand in hand As Twin Towers imploded on our mighty land The call, "Oh, my God!", was heard far and wide As comrades and friends perished side by side.
Thousands escaped on that terrible day They escaped to tell tales of how they did pray For God's great deliverance from death and destruction God's mercy was great, opposing evils' production...
...to be continued.
A Poem
by
Dayna L. Meserve
Dayna stated that she wrote “to be continued” because she knows the enemy we face will not rest, and will try another massacre. But, murderers, we have poets. We have troops. We have patriots. You name it - we have it. Millions of us will fight you.
I have benefited immensely from this experience because I received a chance to look into the lives of some exemplary Americans. They were exemplary because they were living lives that we can all emulate – ordinary lives, earning a living, helping others, loving and raising families – the polar opposite of the murderers who took their lives. This is going to sound odd, but the murderers are to be pitied, because they were conned. Like automatons, they were programmed to kill decent people, destroy iconic buildings, for merely the promise of a lust-filled afterlife. Some can claim all they want to, about “religious reasons” being the motivating factor. Their religious “mentors” had to use the sex reward to gain the desired results. That boils down to murder for sex – nothing noble about any of it. I have never been prouder to have made the choice to become an American citizen. America is hurting right now, because too many in charge have forgotten which country they are leading. They have forgotten that this is supposed to be the exceptional, “shining city on the hill.” They have reduced it to a country staring at the precipice of bankruptcy. They can hardly disguise their hatred for this country, while they reap the benefits of living in it. If I Die Before You Wake is a song of dedication to our troops. It can equally apply to other fellow citizens, many of whom were dead before folks on the West Coast of the US, were even fully awake.
Have You Forgotten is a good reminder of the enemy we will continue to fight for the foreseeable future. We had better not forget. The Taliban would like to help us not forget. Killers of a three year old Afghan girl, we will see who will end up in the “dustbin of history.” Count yourselves lucky that some others of us, are not making the decisions regarding you and dustbins. I have not forgotten to include a dedication to the other players in this ongoing conflict, including those who just launched this latest attack. I would like to dedicate Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue to entrenched and aspiring terrorists, not forgetting the two “Americans,” who are suspected in the latest jihadi plot in the US. And finally to all those who were murdered, may we always have Precious Memories of them. God bless America.
|
Comments