It's September 13, 2007, and the hot, hot, hot weather of the past month has finally broken. Yesterday and today have brought us cool nights and the same beautiful blue sky we enjoyed, for a few short hours, on September 11, 2001. Each of us remembers that day in our own way. It's like when President Kennedy was assassinated. We who were alive then remember exactly where we were and what we were doing.
We were in New York, just west of Rochester actually, heading back to Ohio after a short trip to the Adirondacks. We stopped to buy gasoline and my husband went into to a MacDonalds' to buy coffee and when he returned he said that there had been some crazy old man in the restroom talking about planes flying into buildings. We had been simply driving and enjoying the morning, no radio. When we pulled over to a gas station across the street, the man at the next pump started talking to us about the planes and the World Trade Center. When my husband appeared unaware of this, he told us to turn on the radio. We did and, like millions of Americans, were horrified to learn the few details that were available at that time.
We heard about the Pentagon, and it seemed like the end was indeed near. Rumors were flying fast and furious as newscasters tried to relay info to the public, sometimes without regard to substantiating it. We were told about a plane flying near Cleveland that wasn't responding and was of grave concern to air traffic controllers. This was as we were nearing Cleveland, one eye on the highway and one on the skies. The six hour trip home seemed interminable. We turned on the television as soon as we were in the door and watched the video of the buildings collapsing, and the burning side of the Pentagon.
Unbelievable, but really, all too believable. We should have not allowed the false sense of security to persist throughout the three recent decades of Islamic terror. We were given much warning of what was to come - the Munich massacre, the numerous highjackings, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut and Reagan's cut and run from Lebanon, the various hostage situations, including the humiliating Iranian embassy takeover with the year-long embarrassment of Carter's inaction and the eventual pathetic rescue attempt. Then came the 1990's and the Mogadishu "Black Hawk down" followed by Clinton's cut and run from Somalia. Then the 1993 WTC bombing, the various embassy bombings and finally the sneak attack on the USS Cole harbored in the Yemeni port of Aden.
There is enough blame to go around to all administrations, Congress, the media, and mainly to the terrorists themselves. At least the 19 directly responsible did not stand trial, but instead met Allah face to face, only to find no virgins, just the fires of eternal damnation.
