I was working third shift that fateful Tuesday morning. Ironically it was one of those September days only someone from the north east could truly appreciate. You see as August turns into September most people in the area accept that as summer coming to an end. The days are noticeably shorter/colder, the kids are back in school, and the weekends are dominated by dreams of October baseball as well as the start of football. The leaves have not yet begun to turn, but the change in the air is palpable. Just as we are resigned to those facts we inevitably get one or two days that remind us of July. A day of brilliant sunshine and gentle zephyrs that force us to scramble for one more round of golf, one more day at the beach/pool, or to call in sick to work to do these things. That Tuesday was one of those days. The sun hung high. The mercury rose even early in the morning. I considered playing golf and ducked out of work at 7AM in order to do so. Unable to convince anyone to bang in to work ,I stopped at McDonalds, grabbed a handful of breakfast burritos and hash browns then headed home.



I began channel surfing and happened to skip over CNN around quarter to nine as they switched to live coverage in NYC about an “accident” involving a place and the WTC. I remember Paula Zahn discussing what she could see from CNN HQ and when they finally put a camera on the WTC I only had one thought in my mind…..there was no way that was an accident. The plane didn’t clip the WTC, or hit the antenna, it was dead in the middle of it. I have always been a cynic, and refused to believe that what the world was now seeing could have been anything but deliberate.



Shortly thereafter cameras captured the second plane crashing in to the second tower. The silence on the broadcast was deafening. My heart sunk. Selfishly I began to think about my friends who worked in and around NYC. I tried calling them to see if they were safe but couldn’t get through. Nothing but a busy signal. It was now even more evident that the United States was under attack in the most vile and despicable way imaginable. My brother called me and asked what I knew bc he was only hearing rumors at work. He was working at the Prudential building in Boston at the time and I told him if I were him I would get the hell out there. That this was no mistake. That there seemed to be a plot in place to hijack planes and crash them in to tall buildings. The call only lasted a minute or two but I couldn’t help but think how many other people must be having similar conversations…..sadder still how many people were never given the chance to.



As the day’s events continued to unfold the news broke about another plane crashing in to the Pentagon , another in Shanksville PA, and ultimately millions of us watched in abject horror as the twin Towers collapsed. I couldn’t help but jump to the conclusion that some Islamic jihadist must be behind all this. That bw “their” previous attempt to blow up the WTC , the embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, only “they” would sink to this level of depravity. It must be their fault I thought; those radicals in the Middle East.



In history the middle east if often referred to as the cradle of civilization. I respectfully disagree. The only thing accurate about that contention is that many parts of the middle east are very much like an infant. A penchant for temper tantrums, an inability to form rational thoughts or put together a cogent argument. Not in any way self reliant, but rather reliant upon the politics of fear and hate mongering. For many the only message they spew is hate/intolerance; the only language they understand is violence. On 11 September 2001 “they” made this pronouncement to the world and in so doing thought they could break America, but they were wrong.



While America’s loss was tremendous that day; our resolve was greater. Whether those that hate us will ever realize it or not, America is the single greatest country on earth unified by a common bond and desire to be the best, the last best hope of man on Earth. America is benevolent beyond measure. Whenever tragedy strikes, who is there? Who leads the battle against man kinds terrible afflictions such as cancer and HIV? What country does more for the well being of others across the globe? Who led the charge on the beaches of Normandy and Okinawa to rid the world of brutal despots? Flying planes in to buildings will not and cannot change that. America continues to shine as a beacon of freedom and hope for the rest of the world. And no amount of hatred, no matter how it manifests itself, will ever change that. GOD BLESS AMERICA