Hi ladies and gentlemen.
This is a column I wrote for the local paper I work at, but they couldn’t run it. TC suggested that I post it up here for you all to read. Let me know what you think of it.
Benson
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Tuesday, September 11, will remain etched in my mind until the day I die.
“Today, our nation saw evil,” President George W. Bush told us on television after the events happened.
I woke up expecting another regular day: have some breakfast, catch a little “Sportscenter” before coming in to work.
What I got shook me to the depths of my soul.
I watched the replay of an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. Then I saw the footage of debris raining down along the World Financial District.
Immediately, my thoughts went to my friends Elly and Jill.
Elly works for PR Week Magazine in Manhattan, three miles from the World Trade Center. I called her office and finally got through to her. She was all right, a bit shaken up, but safe.
Elly had a decent view of the carnage around her.
“I was in a bar watching the TV (since there was no TV in the offices), watching the footage of what happened,” she told me. “I felt really sick, and I stepped out for some air. As I looked down Fifth Avenue I saw the second tower collapsing.”
She was getting calls from her family and friends to make sure she was all right.
Jill lives in lower Manhattan, across the street from one of the World Trade Center towers. With the explosions and the devastation taking place, I was afraid she was dead. I kept trying to reach her but to no avail. On Wednesday another friend let me know that he has heard from her and she was all right.
As Tuesday went on, I heard about another crash, this time at the Pentagon. Up to 800 people were believed dead. Then another plane, this one headed to Camp David, crashed in Pennsylvania.
“How could this happen?”
“Why didn’t we know about it?”
“Who in the hell is responsible for this?”
These were the questions I was asking myself as I drove to work, alternating between near tears and blinding rage.
We in the United States have been targets for a while, we know that there are groups out there that despise us, and what we stand for, whether it’s capitalism or democracy. But for them to attack so brazenly, with no fear of retaliation, is unthinkable.
I’d like to share a thought about those responsible for this:
YOU DESPICABLE BASTARDS!
Those who have done this must think they can beat us down, weaken our resolve. Put the fear of whatever they believe into us.
They are about to find out how wrong they are.
You wanted to scare us, but you’ve strengthened us.
You wanted us to fall into chaos, but we’ve pulled together.
Now you want to hide from us, but we WILL be coming after you.
With fingers pointed at terrorist groups all over the world, especially Osama bin Laden, now is not the time for the United States to take matters lightly. Now is the time for the U.S. to hold all of these terrorist groups accountable for the sins of a handful of fanatics. And not just the terrorist groups, but any country aiding and protecting these enemies (see Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan) held to the same level of guilt.
Bin Laden wanted to take the war to America, if that’s what he wants, that’s what we should give them.
Through the rest of the evening, I was pleasantly suprised to hear from my friends in New Zealand. Not that they emailed me, but because they were outraged at what had happened and wanted me to know they were behind us. This was an attack on the United States, but also on everything the United States and the Free World stands for.
As I drove home late Tuesday evening, I passed a red pickup in Albuquerque. It had a U.S. flag flying on a pole from the bed of the truck. But what struck me more about the truck was the three word message written on the tailgate. A message that should be a foreshadowing of how America as a whole will respond to these acts of cowardice.
We will overcome.