I remember 9/11 very, very well, and always will.
Heres what I wrote just a few days after the event. I was still pretty fired up about it.
Now that nine years have passed, I still feel the same way. Some feelings endure over time.
I hope this isn't too long.
And the taste of war I know so very well.
Ive always remembered that line from an old Rodger Whittaker song because I, too, know the nauseating, horrible taste of war; I know it very well.
Many others also know that taste, a taste none of us can ever forget, nor ever find palatable.
War has an indescribably vile, bitter taste that even time cant wash away. Its a taste that lessens and diminishes the souls of all who know it.
War is certainly not a fine dinning experience. It is, however, a meal thathowever distastefulmust periodically be digested by some, in order to protect what they love.
Years ago I was talking with a friend, also a Vietnam vet, and said to him that everyday I could still see men with whom I had served who didnt come back. His reply has stuck with me all these years. He said Bobby, none of us came back. He was right, of course; no one ever comes back from a war.
We may look the same, but were not. Weve smelled a rotten stench, and choked on something that no man should ever, ever have to taste. If I remember this line from a Kipling poem correctly, it says it pretty well; And the measure of our torment, was the measure of our youth. God help us, for we saw the worst too young.
So how, you must ask, could anyone whos ever experienced the horrors of war ever want to go back?
We dont.
But, given the chance, many of us would. I know that I would go right this minute if I could. Why? Because I remember why I served my country in the first place. I remember words that seem to have become unfashionable now. Words that some even find humorous. Terms that some speak only with derision, yet have been an important part of life for many others. Words like Duty, Honor and Patriotism. I know these words: I have lived them. They are the reason I would go back right now. They are the reason many other Americans will go to war in the very near future.
Make no mistake: there will be a war, and soon.
There will be a war, but it is not a war of our choosing. War was declared on the United States on Tuesday, September eleventh, 2001, by persons as yet unknown. Write that date down, for it is the date that the world, as weve known it, ceased to exist. The world was forever changed on that date, and will never again be the same. That was the day that the world went to war against terrorism.
I would join that war. I would choke on that bitter taste once again, because my country has been invaded, my fellow Americans slaughtered, and I am outraged.
I am experiencing a cold, quiet, implacable and terrible rage right now that goes deep into the very core of my being. There is no mercy in my soul for those responsible for that Tuesday slaughter of so many innocent people. I can no longer hunt those vermin down and destroy them. I would if the Marine Corps would again commission a semi-lame overweight old manbut they wont, so Ill have to leave it to a younger generation to fight this war. I have no doubt though, that they will serve with the same dedication that those in the American armed forces have always shown. I think that the present generation of warriors still understands Duty, Honor and Patriotism. They will fight for this country, and for all the good peoples of the world, just as valiantly as those Americans who served before themas each generation of American always has. I salute them, each and every one.
I am deeply saddened that anyone should ever again have to know the bitter taste that has choked so many, but now is a time when there is no alternative. The entire civilized world needs to band together to stamp out the terrible disease of terrorism now, while there is still a civilized world to protect.
God help them, for they too will see the worst too young.
I would like to send a message to those responsible for this despicable act. Be afraid; be very, very afraid, because Uncle Sam is coming for you, and boy is he pissed.
I cant express all the emotions that Im feeling right now, but I had to write something, to get some of them out. Thanks for reading this far.
God Bless America!
Semper Fi,
Bob Dawson
Fri, Sep 14, 2001
My feelings for my country, and my feelings about the attack haven't changed any over the years.
God Bless America!
Semper Fi,
