Remembering 9/11

[DennisLinkletter]

I join American’s everywhere in remembering the past and those who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we hold dear. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families most closely touched by these tragedies. May we always fight for and cherish the freedoms which distinguish our country so their passing will not have been in vain.

[Paswesley]

Re: Remembering 9/11

Amen, Dennis. I was employed in Alexandria, Va. on Sept. 11th. The dawn was the most beautiful that I can recall. The sky was such a vivid and rich blue, and crystal clear seeing for miles. I was at the Library of Congress when the first plane struck the tower. I was traveling back to my home base in Alexandria, crossing the 14th Street Bridge, when someone called to tell me about the attack. The second strike occurred as she was explaining the first hit, and I will never forget her blood-curdling scream when the second plane hit. I am a tough man, but I suddenly began to cry. She wanted to know why. I told her that I got chills because both towers were going to fall and thousands would die. She said, "How do you know?" I told her that I just knew. An hour or so later, they both fell as my coworkers and I watched CNN at my job site. We went outside because they said the Pentagon had been hit, less than a mile from where we were. A moment later, we heard the roar of sonic booms as the F15s from Langley AFB arrived in the air space. A woman that I once pastored lives 1/4 mile from the Pentagon. She was outside in her yard when the plane roared over her house, so low that the jet wash almost knocked her over. Those were troubling times, and I share these personal reflections because it is a catharsis. I feel a close connection with all the heroes, especially those who died in the Pentagon crash. Let us honor these heroes always, and resist forever the cowards who did these atrocious acts.