10th Anniversary of 9-11

moreluck

golden ticket member
Retired Fire fighter Bob Beckwith became a symbol of resolve for the country when he was photographed with President Bush atop the charred shell of a firetruck as the President told distraught New Yorkers: "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."

While it was one of the proudest days of Bob's life, he is even more touched that the president has kept in contact with him.

"I've heard from the president quite a few times," he says, "I was invited to the White House to the Oval Office and to the Christmas party. I was honored to be there."

Bob, now 79, raises money for the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation. He has 6 adult children and 10 grandchildren and lives with his wife in Baldwin, Long Island.
 
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moreluck

golden ticket member
The President better not make light of Al-Qaeda's part in 9-11................his guidelines.........

One set of guidelines urged U.S. officials to “minimize references to Al-Qaeda.” The documents cited the killing of Usama bin Laden as evidence that the terror network that plotted and executed the Sept. 11 attacks is becoming “increasingly irrelevant.”
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
Ten years after the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, there is still no public timetable for the trial of the suspects at Guantanamo Bay, according to a Defense Department letter .

Maybe they should bring the accused to the site on 9-11 and do the Roman thing.....thumbs up or thumbs down......let the crowd of family members decide.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
ON MONDAY...9/11/01...In Memory

On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools. On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone was not praying.

On Monday there were people trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed. On Tuesday they were all holding hands.

On Monday we thought that we were secure. On Tuesday we learned better.

On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes. On Tuesday we relearned what hero meant.

On Monday people went to work at the world trade centers as usual. On Tuesday they died.

On Monday people were fighting The Ten Commandments on government property. On Tuesday the same people all said 'God help us all' while thinking 'Thou shall not kill.'

On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room. On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug their kids.

On Monday people picked up McDonalds for dinner. On Tuesday they stayed home.

On Monday people were upset that their dry cleaning was not ready on time. On Tuesday they were lining up to give blood for the dying.

On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses. On Tuesday grief stricken they sang 'God Bless America.'

On Monday we worried about the traffic and getting to work late. On Tuesday we worried about a plane crashing into your house or place of business.

On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived. On Tuesday we saw people celebrating people dying in the USA.

On Monday some children had solid families. On Tuesday they were orphans.

On Monday the President was going to Florida to read to children. On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children.

On Monday we emailed jokes. On Tuesday we did not.

It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective, but it has. The lessons learned this week, the things we have taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked, hopefully will never be forgotten again.

On Monday - pray and be thankful. On Tuesday - pray and be thankful. On Wednesday - pray and be thankful. On Thursday - pray and be thankful. On Friday - pray and be thankful. On Saturday - pray and be thankful. On Sunday - pray and be thankful.

- Author unknown.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
AMERICA REMEMBERS

Today the world is grieving No victory displayed Cowards filled with hatred Your evil souls enslaved

You took away God's children No matter race or creed Violated freedom Such evil in this deed

You showed a nation horror With innocents you chose The cowards of the evil ones With hatred ~ no values

You never will destroy us You only made us strong Only showed with evil What is right and wrong

In a world of freedom That has the very best Nations born with dignity Each one of them our guest

No matter what religion Color faith or creed We all are all united From evil that you breed

You may kill our loved ones Without a single thought You can't destroy our nation For freedom we have fought

America is strong now With dignity and pride Mountains hills and oceans Our eagle flies worldwide.

(Francine Pucillo)
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
This is part of the B.S. Factor.............

College Threatens To Cancel 9/11 Tribute Because American Flags Might Upset Muslim Students…Speechless.

Via Human Events:
If you thought that something as innocuous as putting up 3,000 American flags on school grounds to pay tribute to those murdered on September 11 couldn’t be controversial, you haven’t been to Marietta College.

Administrators at this liberal arts college in southeast Ohio are threatening to cancel a 9/11 memorial planned by their students if flags from other countries are not observed in the activities as well.

“I was taken aback by this decision,” said Sarah Snow, an Alabama native and junior at Marietta. “Our school should help students put on events, not set up obstacles, especially when we’re trying to honor those fallen.”

It all started when Snow, the president of the Marietta College Republicans, approached her Student Life department to get approval to participate in the 9/11 Never Forget Project. In addition to organizing a candlelight vigil, Snow sought to plant 3,000 American flags around campus starting this Sunday morning. She received approval from the Office of Student Life on June 23, more than two months ago. But when she returned to campus for the fall semester, days before the memorial was to begin, the vice president of Student Life, Robert Pastoor, vowed to terminate the tribute unless foreign flags were mixed together with American ones.

“He [Robert Pastoor] insisted we add the international flags for the reason that it was a ‘global perspective’ school,” Snow told HUMAN EVENTS in explaining Pastoor’s basis for interfering with the College Republicans’ memorial. He continued, she noted, by saying, “Other nationalities were killed in the twin towers as well” and that Marietta must “consider how the Muslim and Chinese students will feel about the [American flag] display.”

Pastoor did not return a call and an e-mail requesting comment.

While Marietta is arguing that the inclusion of other nations is consistent with the school’s “global” emphasis, critics see this as yet another example of college bureaucrats genuflecting to leftist orthodoxy.
 

bigbrownhen

Well-Known Member
All our lives were changed 10 years ago.

10 years ago, I remember hearing about the first plane on the way to work. As I was making deliveries that day, customers were giving me updates of the events unfolding. There was very little phone service, couldn't contact family. After work, rushing home to hold my family, watching for the first time on TV the towers coming down. I also remember that night, I realized that this event will send my son to war. He was only 13 at the time, but I still knew. Today he sits in Iraq, as many others do, there and in Afganistan, to keep the "wolves" at bay. May we never forget those who died, those who serve, those who have lost.

We are blessed to be Americans, with all of our differences, we are still one nation under God. We make it work. May our example show that it can be done.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
GEORGE W. BUSH, 43RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Flight 93 memorial dedication speech....

Mr. Secretary, thank you very much. Mr. Vice President, Dr. Biden, President Clinton, Mr. Speaker, members of Congress, my friends Tommy Franks and Tom Ridge, thank you for helping raise the money for this memorial. Members of the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, all of those who supported this memorial, but most importantly, the families of Flight 93. Laura and I are honored to join you in dedicating this memorial to the heroes of Flight 93.
When the sun rose in the Pennsylvania sky ten years ago tomorrow, it was a peaceful September morning. By the time it set nearly 3,000 people were gone. The most lives lost on American soil in a single day since the battle of Antietam.
With the distance of a decade, 9/11 can feel like a part of a different era. But for the families of the men and women stolen, some of whom join us today, that day will never feel like history. The memory of that morning is fresh and so is the pain. America shares your grief. We pray for your comfort and we honor your loved ones.
September 11th, 2001, innocent men and women went to work at the World Trade Center. They reported for duty at the Pentagon. They boarded American Flights 11 and 77, United 93 and 175. They did nothing to provoke or deserve the deliberate act of murder that al Qaeda carried out.
One of the lessons of 9/11 is that evil is real, and so is courage. When the planes struck the World Trade Center, firefighters and police officers charged up the stairs into the flames. As the towers neared collapse, they continued the rescue efforts.
Ultimately, more than 400 police officers and firefighters gave their lives. Among them was the chief of the New York City Fire Department Peter Gancy. As a colleague put it, he would never ask anyone to do something he didn’t do himself.
The Pentagon service members and civilians pulled friends and strangers from burning rubble. One special forces soldier recalls reaching through a cloud of smoke in search of the wounded. As he entered one room, he prayed to find someone alive. He discovered a severely burned woman and carried her to safety. Later, in the hospital, where she explained she’s been praying for rescue. She called him her guardian angel.
And then there’s the extraordinary story we commemorate here. Aboard United Airlines Flight 93 were college students from California, an iron worker from New Jersey, veterans of the Korean War and World War II, citizens of Germany and Japan, a pilot who had rearranged his schedule so that he could take his wife on a vacation to celebrate their anniversary.
When the passengers and crew realized the plane had been hijacked, they reported the news calmly. When they learned that the terrorists had crashed other planes into targets on the ground, they accepted greater responsibilities. In the back of the cabin, the passengers gathered to devise a strategy.
At the moment America’s democracy was under attack, our citizens defied their captors by holding a vote. The choice they made would cost them their lives, and they knew it. Many passengers called their loved ones to say good-bye, then
Many passengers called their loved ones to say goodbye then hung up to perform their final act. One said, “They’re getting ready to break into the cockpit. I have to go. I love you.” Another said, “It’s up to us. I think we can do it.”
In one of the most stirring accounts, Todd Beamer, a father of two with a pregnant wife with a home in New Jersey, asked the air operator to join him in reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Then he helped lead the charge with the words “Let’s roll.”
With their selfless act, the men and women who stormed the cockpit lived out the words, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” And with their brave decision, they launched the first counter offensive of the war on terror. The most likely target of the hijacked plane was the United States Capitol. We’ll never know how many innocent people might have been lost, but we do know this, Americans are alive today because the passengers and crew of Flight 93 chose to act, and our nation will be forever grateful.
The 40 souls who perished on the plane left a great deal behind. They left spouses and children and grandchildren who miss them dearly. They left successful businesses and promising careers and a lifetime of dreams they will never have the chance to fulfill. They left something else — a legacy of bravery and selflessness that will always inspire America.
For generations people will study the flight, the story of Flight 93. They will learn that individual choices make a difference, that love and sacrifice can triumph over evil and hate, and that what happened above this Pennsylvania field ranks among the most courageous acts in American history.
At the memorial we dedicate today will ensure our nation always remembers those lost here on 9/11. But we have a duty beyond memory. We have a duty beyond honoring. We have a duty to live our lives in a way that upholds the ideals for which the men and women gave their lives, to build a living memorial to their courage and sacrifice. We have a duty to find common purpose as a nation.
In the days after 9/11, the response came like a single hand over a single heart. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle gathered on the steps of the capitol to sing “God bless America.” neighbors reached out to neighbors of all backgrounds and beliefs.
The past decade, our country has been tested by natural disaster, economic turmoil, anxieties and challenges here at home and abroad. There have been spirited debates along the way. It’s the essence of democracy. But Americans have never been defined by our disagreements. Whatever challenges we face today and in the future, we must never lose faith in our ability to meet them together. We must never allow our differences to harden into divisions.
Secondly, we have a duty to remain engaged in the world as 9/11 proved that the conditions in the country on the other side of the world can have an impact on our own streets. It may be tempting to think it doesn’t matter what happens to a villager in Afghanistan or a child in Africa, but the temptation of isolation is deadly wrong.
World repression, anger and resentment will be a never ending source of violence and threats. A world of dignity and liberty and hope will be safer and better for all. The surest way to move toward that vision is for the United States of America to lead the cause of freedom.
Finally, we each have a duty to serve a cause larger than ourselves. The passengers aboard Flight 93 set an example that inspires us all. Many have followed their path of service by donating blood or mentoring a child or volunteering in desperate corners of the earth. Some have devoted their careers to analyzing intelligence or protecting our borders and securing our skies. Others have made the noble choice to defend our nation in battle.
For 10 years, our troops have risked and given their lives to prevent our enemies from attacking America again. They’ve kept us safe, they have made us proud, and they have upheld the spirit of service shown by the passengers on Flight 93.
Many years ago, in 1863, another president came to dedicate a memorial site in this state. He told his audience that, “In a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. For the brave souls who struggled there, it consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.”
He added “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”
So it is with Flight 93. For as long as this memorial stands, we will remember what the men and women aboard the plane did here. We’ll pay tribute to the courage they showed, the sacrifice they made, and the lives they spared. The United States will never forget.
May god bless you all.
 
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