It’s hard to believe it’s been six years already since the day that changed the world, quite literally. I still remember it vividly – I was in Morris Plains, NJ on the 2nd half of a 2 week business trip. I can still see the smoke from the burning towers rising in the distance above the tree line – at that distance it was quite small, but still visible. And then the sheer horror and disbelief that they actually fell. Then the reports of a plane hitting the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the erroneous reports of numerous other hijacked airliners still in the air – but there was only one more, Flight 93. Needless to say, my trip was cut short, and I headed home, the scenic route – instead of heading back over the Tappan Zee as I normally would have, I headed further north on the Thruway and took I-84 back home.
Anyways, my point here is to never forget what those 19 Islamic terrorists did, never forget who did it, and never forget those people who lost their lives six years ago today. Support our troops serving overseas and here at home, along with the multitudes of fire & police personnel helping to keep us safe. They’ve got our backs. Remember that freedom isn’t free. I’ll leave you with a famous quote from Thomas Paine’s first paper in The Crisis, published on December 23, 1776. You can interpret it as you wish.
THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
Hey, I was a political science major at UConn. I gotta use my degree from time to time to make it worth the money I spent for my four years in Storrs. 😀
-Tom
