Phil,

Amen to those words!

That's exactly why I have on my table a tablecloth with red, white and blue
flags on it and every year after 9/11, I put that on my big table for a few
days.

I'm proud to be an American! I love our country! I love the flag! I Praise
God for what we have as Americans, as there are so many people in other
countries not as fortunate as we are.

Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson
At 09:34 AM 9/11/04, you wrote:
>Here is what I wrote on the first anniversary.  I will never forget.
>
>A year ago, I was listening to the morning news at the report of
>the first plane which crashed into tower number one.  When the
>second plane crashed into the second tower, I knew then it was no
>accident and that we were under some sort of terrorist attack.  I
>even told my wife that day that we could expect more planes now
>and in the future any place in the country.  You can't, after all,
>read any of Tom Clancy's books or Steven Coonts without knowing
>that their are people out there that hate our way of life and will
>do anything they can to destroy what they hate.  They will even
>kill themselves in the process.  I can easily say I probably
>listened to at least 70 or 80 hours of TV and radio that week a
>year ago.  I even awakened during the night and unable to sleep,
>got up and listened for hours to all the reports.  A very good
>friend of mine flies for United.  I believe it was the first plane
>that crashed into the first trade tower that was the flight out of
>Boston to Los Angeles.  My friend flies that same Boston to L A
>route all the time.  I finally got up the courage to call his home
>here in Denver to ask his wife if he was home or off flying that
>week.  I was so relieved when she said, "He is home.  Let me put
>him on the phone."  He flew over 200 combat missions in jet
>fighters in Vietnam but my friend could hardly talk on the
>telephone that day he was so shaken.  The first flight he was
>assigned to fly when the airlines were allowed to fly again was
>the return flight from L A into Boston.  At any rate, today I
>listened to TV all day once again and all evening just about.  I
>often think of my oldest son now living in New Jersey and how one
>time his company flew him to New York and he had to go to the top
>of one of the towers to teach company employees some new software.
>In fact, he had a meeting scheduled for yesterday in the city but
>the security was becoming so tight, everyone was canceling their
>meetings so he canceled his.  I couldn't help think today, as I
>did a year ago, my son could have easily been in one of those
>towers.  All day today something was gnawing at the back of my
>mind but I couldn't put my finger on it.  Yes, I cried several
>times today listening to all the stories just like I did a year
>ago and I prayed, too, for the families who suffered such a great
>loss just as I did a year ago.  As I listened to how minute by
>minute decisions were being made by our nationally elected leaders
>and by the police and fire fighters and hundreds of others, I
>suddenly said out loud, I sure am glad to be an American.  That's
>what had been gnawing at me all day and when it finally came to
>me, I literally spoke it out loud before I realized it.  I've
>never fought in a war or carried a weapon or ever done anything
>any more patriotic than fly an American flag outside my window.  I
>can truthfully say that today, for perhaps the very first time in
>my life, I honestly felt proud to be an American.  I wasn't just
>proud of all the people who helped save lives a year ago as I
>listened to the news coverage today and I wasn't just thankful
>that it happened to somebody else and not me or my family.  I can
>honestly and truthfully say today, fellow Americans and the way
>they lived and died, made me proud I am one of them.  People died
>in the air, on the ground, and in buildings and most died without
>even knowing why.  We know why now.  they didn't die because they
>were black or white or because they spoke English or Japanese or
>Spanish or French.  They did not die because they were old or
>young; male or female.  they didn't die because they were
>religious or atheists.  They died because they were Americans.  I
>believe I now have some understanding of what it really means to
>be an American and I wouldn't have it any other way.
>
>Phil.
>
>
>I Flew Kites With Jesus
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com