Hi Phil,
I totally agree with this.
I've been collecting all the 911 documentaries I can, and I got a
bunch of them.
I also prayed for everyone on that day.
I have a table cloth that has flags on it, and it is Red, White, and
Blue. I'm very loyal to our country, and I have that table cloth on
my table every year on 9-11.
I love our country and I love songs about it, and I'm trying to get
some repleca's of all national buildings including the twin towers.
Lovingly,
Pat Ferguson
At 02:29 AM 9/11/2007, you wrote:
>I stayed up late to watch the stories of 9 11 on the biography
>channel. Throughout the evening, I told myself that I didn't need
>to watch it any more, yet something deep down inside made me feel
>otherwise. Finally, when it was time, I turned the TV on and
>watched it all over again as I had six years ago. I kept asking
>myself why? Why watch it all again? The answer is twofold.
>First, it dawned on me that the people who died that day deserve
>my respect and honor for their individual bravery. Yes, I mean
>all who died were heroes to me. For example, just think of the
>tremendous courage it took even for those who jumped to their
>deaths because they had no way out. Many died without even
>knowing why, but I know why, and out of honor for them, I watched
>it all again and cried again and prayed again for those who lived
>and are still suffering. I promised the dead that I will never
>forget them and I won't. As I sat once again tonight and watched
>it happen all over again, as if it were yesterday, one thing
>clearly came to mind, It is true. We are at war. What is below,
>I wrote a year following the original tragedy. It is the second,
>and perhaps most important, reason why I watch it happen again
>tonight. I trust we never forget who we are and what we stand
>for and I hope we never forget who did this to us as Americans.
>If we do, perhaps we who remain should not call ourselves
>Americans any longer.
>
>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.
>
>
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
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