The Crack of Noon

Obviously, this is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks.

How does this affect you?

Hopefully, as strongly as the Pearl Harbor attacks affected the previous generation. A sneak attack, unexpected, and brutal. Both brought us into wars that we would have preferred to stay out of.

I remember as clear as day, my late father waking me from my sleep that morning and calling me into the living room, saying that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I had scarcely made it to the living room, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, before seeing live the second plane hit the second tower and explode. I thought it was a replay, until I saw the smoke coming from the first tower, and finally realizing that it was a coordinated attack.

I was a scared 17 year old kid at the time. It was the first time I had been fully exposed to an attack on US soil, by people who would want to see us destroyed. I wasn’t sure what to think.

At the time, I was a fan of the Delta Force series of PC games, so I was active on their online forums. A short time after the two planes stuck the towers, I was at the local library on the Delta Force forums, discussing what had happened. A bit later, the librarian (a friend of mine) walked through, stating numbly and with tears in her eyes “They both came down”. That’s when the gravity of the situation hit me.

These people didn’t want to simply end the American way of life. They wanted to destroy us; COMPLETELY. At that moment, I knew that eventually I’d be doing something to stop them.

It took a good 10 years, but today I realized that my job is essentially a direct result of the 9/11 attacks, not a standard evolution of military contracting. With God’s help, within a few months I’ll be overseas assisting our troops who are fighting the good fight against those who would see us destroyed. I pray that no matter where I end up, I can at least provide assistance to those who had the courage and fortitude to fight for the greatest country in the world, the one that I will support no matter who is in charge.

I’m not quite sure how to end this, but I hope that all who read this will understand that we’re fighting against a relentless, incredibly tenacious and evil enemy who want nothing more than to see the United States completely destroyed, along with the entire Western world. It will be, literally, a fight to the finish, as long as our leaders retain the courage to end the war rather than give up the fight. If they do, we’ll see this war end in our lifetime. I pray that they do, so no more American lives will be lost unnecessarily.

I’m sorry to be long-winded, but I needed to make the above statements no matter what the next few months hold. God bless you all!