Lest We Ever Forget

[Rory R Hammond]

9/11 was a day that made the world stop and a skip a collective heartbeat.

What a terrible way to see true evil and sensless disreguard for life.

More encouraging to me spritually and more promising to a better future was The courage, resolve, passion and heroism that we discovered that day.

Terrible days like this forge a promise for a better future and renew resolve from my friends an neighbors that freedom is not free.

Rory

[John Bolene]

Amen

We in Oklahoma City also have another date that sticks in our minds.

[Sorrel G. Jakins]

As I approach my more mature years in life, I have come to appreciate a bit more fully the Eternal nature of God and the Brotherhood of man.

Sorrel

[Jeff Schussele]

Yes John, 4/19/95 was a truly dark day. What was especially heartrending to me was the fact that the children in the daycare center right up front bore the greatest brunt of the explosive force. It was truly amazing that a child did survive.
Believe me, I'm no fan of the death penalty, but in this case I would have gladly performed the deed that ended McVeigh's life - that pathetic excuse for a human being needed to meet his maker so that he could be *truly* punished - for eternity. Although I would have opted for something a little more appropriate. I would have tied his sorry ass to a column in the next building to be demolished such that he'd only be injured by the explosions...until the structure came down on him.

Later,
Jeff

[Pete Randall]

Jeff,

I've hesitated to respond because I have my own unique, slanted, biased view. Now that the memorial day is past, maybe I can vent a little - and hopefully not offend anyone (too much).

Worship the heroes of the day. Condemn the villains. Rebuild. Rejoice in our ability to recover. The uncaring and inhuman crimes committed on that day defy comparison. What they have wrought on us as a nation, however, pales in comparison - they have succeeded in undermining our political freedoms. We have been stripped of the civil liberties upon which this nation was founded, thanks to the "homeland security act". The "leadership" of this nation has been eager to seize any excuse to usurp constitutional rights in the name of patriotism. I hate politcs and will leave my political comments at that.

My wish is that, along with the heroes of 9/11, we never forget the soldiers pressed into service to fight a "war on terrorism", a war that only alienates our former allies and strengthen the resentment the Arab world feels towards America. We're seriously misguided here folks, but don't ever forget, it's not the soldier's fault - they're only doing what they have to do. They are bound to a thankless task, with little hope of success. The native population is never going to truly welcome them, and the subversive elements are going to do their utmost to ensure that they make their impact on U.S. headline news - each and every day, there are going to be body counts of U.S. servicemen. Eventually, *we* are supposed to get sick of it and put political pressure on our "leadership" to get us out of this mess. Let's face it folks - it's a no win situation. We can tuck our tail between our legs and pull out now, or we can tough it out like we did in Vietnam. Either way, I don't hold much hope for saving face.

Along with your prayers and support during this moment of commemoration, I ask for one more commitment: support your troops! It's not their fault that their leadership is misguided. Whatever you do, make sure you thank them, support them, celebrate them. Don't spit on them and villify them like Vietnam era protestors did. I bear scars to this day and don't wish that on anyone.

Humbly,

Pete

[Jeff Schussele]

My dear friend Pete,

I realize you have a couple of yrs on me. But you should know that one of the turning points in my relationship with my now deceased father was, at my tender (Hah! noone's EVER used that term to describe me - EVER) age of 15. The war had seemed to me to be dddddrrrrraaaaggggiiiinnnnggg on FOREVER & my lottery # came up 22. I turned to my father - Mr. D-day+3 who was a Quartermaster Sgt Marine (Yes - Semper Fi Pete) - and said "Dad, I have way too much to offer this country than uselessly spilled blood in a pointless conflict. Would you disown me if I "disappear" for a few years if this sh1t don't stop?" He looked at me knowing full well all the crap my older brothers had pulled trying to do the same thing & said "No, because if I were in your position I'd do the same damn thing!" Then he proved his unequivocal love for me & followed that up with, "Thank you for being honest with me.....I KNOW that was hard." You have to know that my Dad was 6'3", 240lbs. & I was 5'7" 160 dripping wet back then.

He as a hardened veteran knew damn well there are fights that must be fought & fights that need to be walked away from. He also knew that as a dirt poor kid growing up in the depression that the GI bill gave him his only opportunity to get a college education that he wouldn't have had w/o the war. But he knew he had earned it & a grateful country had given him it.
But the war also taught him a very valuable lesson - how to weed out the bullsh1t from the the fluff when people in power speak. He was always against 'Nam, but he & I always stood up for the grunts. And I want to make that PERFECTLY clear. I was VERY anti-war, but I never held that against the servicemen. I condemned the power brokers - PERIOD. I ALWAYS condemned the brain-dead people that mindlessly blamed the servicemen for the sins of the administration.

So that brings me to the disturbing corollary that appears in our present situation! This President talks about supporting our troops - the b@stard even has his people go so far as to say that if you criticize the way he's leading that you *don't* support those same troops - who are giving their lives for this country - then turns around & cuts their benefits when noone is looking. Do ANY of you expect this politician to give them the equivalent of the GI-bill?

So the question I would ask all these neo-conservative chickenhawks is simply - "Would you die for him?" And if so, is there any question about just what he's willing to do for you? Who does he serve & WHO do you?

I know what my answer would be - AND I sleep very well at night, thank you.

Fully vented now,
Jeff

You all need to keep your eyes AND your minds open. Especially all you sub-30 forummers. History does repeat itself. These people are pulling out all the smoke & mirrors. All the distractions, all the hateful talk about treason. When did dissent morph into treason?!?!? And most importantly *WHY*?
Don't you understand that you CAN support the troops while not supporting the administration?!?!? Let's find Osama - IF he's still alive, destroy Al Qaeda & be done with it. That WAS the task at hand, why isn't it today? DON'T BE DISTRACTED ANYMORE.
And most importantly - I can't emphasize this any harder - Distrust authority, distrust it off-hand, until it proves itself worthy. No sound-bite, no photo-op - EVEN in a flight suit - earns it - ACTIONS DO! A flight suit does not a JFK make.

[Steven E. Protter]

Hey Jeff,

I support the troops.

I support BOTH wars but respect your position.

What bin Laden tried to take away two years ago was our right to have this discussion without fear.

The fact is we've made a mess in Iraq and are responsible to pay the tab to fix it and get out. There are a lot of bin Laden people pouring in there to take shots at us.

I don't know about WMD or the 9/11 link. I think the 300,000 bodies we've dug up so far were reason enough to get rid of the guy running the place.

So, lets summarize.


Hopeefully,
We ALL support the troops.
We ALL want Iraqi's and Afghani's to be free.
We ALL want this violence to stop.
We ALL want a peaceful, tolerant world.

Freedom isn't free.

I respect those that choose not to fight and those that choose to serve. We need to get the war on terror over. We really can't afford to lose it.

Lets make those who gave their lives on and since 9/11 by doing the best job we can to make the world a better place.

SEP