Dimitri wrote:
> I'll bet you remember what you were doing 7 years ago today.
>
> Me, I had flown in to Newark airport the night before with a business
> associate. Flying in to the airport I had pointed out the twin towers
> which were just above the cloud cover. and was telling her about the
> Windows to the World restaurant on the top floor.
>
> I had turned on the Today show in my room while the speculation was
> going on as to what type of plane had hit the first tower not
> understanding the situation as it was unfolding.
>
> We were staying at the Radisson in Paramus New Jersey and had arranged
> to meet for Breakfast in the morning.
>
> As I walked through the Bar to get to the restaurant there was a giant
> screen TV. Several men were standing around discussing the event. At
> the moment I looked at the giant screen, much to the horror of everyone
> standing there, the second plane hit. A man said "Holy F*** We're being
> attacked".
>
> As they say the rest is history.
>
> And you?
>
> Dimitri
>
> I hope we never forget.

I live in Washington State, and so when my clock radio woke me that
morning, it was an awakening to a changed world. I had never before been
fully aware of the true depth of the hatred that some barbarian
"civilizations" have oh-so-carefully cultivated toward the US. That they
would gleefully murder almost three thousand people of all nationalities
and cultures simply because they happened to be in a large building in
America - and for what? Some captured terrorists claimed it to be
retaliation for Pres. Clinton's cruise-missile assault on terrorist
training camps in Afghanistan and the Sudan earlier, which in turn were
said to be in retaliation for several terrorist attacks on US
Embassies... Sounds almost reasonable for a madman's excuse, until you
remember that the World Trade Center was not a singularly "American"
target. A lot of those who died there that morning were Islamic Arabs.
That is the difference between a soldier and a terrorist. Whatever his
cause, for good or evil, the difference is whether he fights against
other soldiers, or he deliberately targets and kills innocent civilians.

I made it through that day and the days after, like a robot, doing my
job and getting by as best I could. It wasn't until I heard the first
airplane take off from a small local airfield, and watched that little
turbo-prop twin climbing like a homesick angel... That I finally fell to
my knees and cried.

"It's over." I thought, And I would give all that I am and all that I
have to prevent it happening again.