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  • Today marks the 24th anniversary of 9/11. I pray that this nation does not forget the loss of lives from this horrible event. Yesterday conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered, and I worry about what is to come. Please love one another and your family in these trying times - Spark

September 11

Amen

May God watch over, protect & comfort the loved ones of those who lost their lives that day.
 
We must never forget!

To my brothers and sisters in uniform, thank you for your service!
 
This date still brings up emotions in me. This is something I wrote on September 14th, two days after the event. It was picked up and run in several places at the time. If the mods feel it is inappropriate here they can move it or remove it.

“And the taste of war I know so very well.”
I’ve 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 can’t wash away. It’s 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 that—however distasteful—must 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 didn’t 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 we’re not. We’ve 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 who’s ever experienced the horrors of war ever want to go back?
We don’t.
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 we’ve 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 man—but they won’t, so I’ll 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 them—as 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 can’t express all the emotions that I’m 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


I still feel the same today as I did when I wrote this. God bless America!
 
Bob,

That was moving. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Never forget. Never forget the lives lost. Never forget the heroism witnessed. Never forget why our service men and women are at war.
 
But the Gov't has forgotten as they are spending large amounts of money to bring Gitmo terrorists to the USA providing them with medical care etc, etc !!
 
I don't want to forget 9/11. I think our complacency in forgetting that others wish to do us harm largely lead to 9/11. However, I do want our nation to rise above and forgive. There seems to be a difference between being aware, and being vengeful.

We should strive never to repay war with war. As a former Marine, I have been trained to defend and kill. We should never enter into war lightly. The deaths of 4,000+ of my brothers and sisters in Iraq is a high price to pay. It should be calculated with care - I am not sure it was.

TF
 
Talfuchre said:
I don't want to forget 9/11. I think our complacency in forgetting that others wish to do us harm largely lead to 9/11. However, I do want our nation to rise above and forgive. There seems to be a difference between being aware, and being vengeful.

We should strive never to repay war with war. As a former Marine, I have been trained to defend and kill. We should never enter into war lightly. The deaths of 4,000+ of my brothers and sisters in Iraq is a high price to pay. It should be calculated with care - I am not sure it was.

TF
Click to expand...

The question is, forgive whom? I will never forgive those responsible that cowardly attack on 9/11. Never.

On the other hand, I agree that war is a terrible thing (see my post above about the taste of war), and should never be entered into lightly. Sometimes our leaders make what I think may be really, really poor choices about when to enter into wars. Way back when, I was a career Marine who went where my country sent me, to kill whomever they told me to kill. Over time, as I matured, I began to question the necessity of some of our foreign wars. It hurts to have to write the wives and parents of the men you've lost when you can't tell them why their sons or husbands have died. Don't misunderstand me, though: there are times that it is necessary to go to war. I would still go to war against those who perpetrated the 9/11 attack in a heartbeat: them, I will never forgive. I would also go to war again against anyone who attacks my country, but the lines are a little blurry to those in Washington about what constitutes an attack against America.

Semper Fi
 
Dawson,

I think you have to forgive them. I think the only person who you harm with the anger that is kept is yourself. The ones that attacked us are dead.

Wear the sword, train with the sword, remember that there are others that wish to do you harm and this is the reason you wear the sword... unsheath the sword only under the most dire of circumstances.

I don't want to turn this into a debate over how to wage war - but I think many keep 'never forget' as a cipher to harbor hatred. This makes the lines that distinguish us from our enemies too blurry for my tastes.

This is just me though.

TF
 
Talfuchre said:
Dawson,

I think you have to forgive them. I think the only person who you harm with the anger that is kept is yourself. The ones that attacked us are dead.

Wear the sword, train with the sword, remember that there are others that wish to do you harm and this is the reason you wear the sword... unsheath the sword only under the most dire of circumstances.

I don't want to turn this into a debate over how to wage war - but I think many keep 'never forget' as a cipher to harbor hatred. This makes the lines that distinguish us from our enemies too blurry for my tastes.

This is just me though.

TF
Click to expand...

Talfuchre, I agree with your premise. Wholeheartedly, in fact. Yes, the ones who actually participated in that attack are dead. It's their like-minded ilk that I worry about, and would go after in a heartbeat if it would prevent another attack on our country. As long as they stay where they are and leave America alone, I'm fine with them. Live and let live. I don't like war any more than any other sane person, but what would we be if we didn't respond when they bring it to us? It isn't harboring hatred, it's simply prudence.
 
Dawson,

It is also, VERY easy for me to say. Had it been one of my family members - I know I would feel differently.

Thank you all for respecting my opinion on this matter. THIS, among many other things, is what makes America great!

Semper Fi and God Bless America,

TF
 
TF,

America is great, isn't it. Let's keep it that way.

Semper Fi and God Bless America,

Dawson
 
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