I REMEMBER THAT MORNING, WE ALL DO, DON'T WE?

For most of us, it was just another morning, for me, it was nearing 8AM CST, made my coffee checked my emails. Walked to the family room, switched on the tube. I can't even remember what the channel was, but it was a news channel, FOX maybe. As I sat down in the recliner, I looked at the picture where they said an airplane had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. At first, nothing was really registering, then it happened. As my eyes were glued to the TV, I turned up the sound and I saw yet another plane crash into the second tower. Like most people, I was shocked, I felt this eerie empty feeling come over me, what in the world was happening? Inside though, I knew what was happening, America was under attack, by who, and why? As we all did, I just watched the scene in NYC unfold, then the notice, another jet liner crashed into the Pentagon, and another crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. My God, when was it going to end, how many more planes are left unaccounted for? Where were they headed? As an employee for American Airlines, my heart was in my throat, I waited for a call from the airport, but there was none. As the nation and the world watched this horrific scene unfold, I knew deep inside that America will never ever be the same.

This morning the victims of this cowardly act had no idea that, in just a couple hours they would be stepping off into eternity, never to be seen or heard from again. They had their breakfast, hopefully they, kissed their wives, husbands, children good bye. It was the last time they would be able to do that. They went off to work, just as we all were about to do, not unlike any other day, only this day would be their last.

America, was never the same from that day forward. Heroes where made that fateful day. Firefighters, law enforcement, and first responders, whose job it was to run into burning buildings, not away from them. Men and women making desperate rescue attempts, many would die beside the people they were trying to rescue. Bravery, knew no boundaries, yes, they were hero's, all of them.

We learned later that a few of the victims that day managed to reach their families by cell phone, the story of one man in particular caught my attention. One of the men called his wife, he was in a conference room on the 105th floor of one of the burning towers. There were, as he told his wife about 100 people in that room. The man said to his wife " I love you honey, but I'm going to have to go," he said " honey you know Al, that Christian from the office, he's going to lead us all in a prayer now, goodbye baby." Al, the Christian, was doing his Father's work, Al knew that none of them would get out of that building alive. Al didn't call home, but Al, the Christian, was determined to take as many souls as possible to heavenly eternity with him. Al, the Christian, wore his faith in Jesus on his sleeve, for all those in that room to see, through Al's faith in Jesus Christ, another 100 souls hopefully found salvation, and Al served the Lord right up until his last moment on this earth. Al, the Christian, was a true hero, in every sense of the word.

Late that evening of September 11, 2001, my wife and I were drained of our strength, we wept for those who died, those who were dying, and those loved ones left behind. We wept for our nation, because from this day forward, it would be changed forever. And we asked, why?

I lost a friend that day, she was on AA flight 11, she was a flight attendant. Like many other large companies, at American Airlines, we were one big family. The airport was silent the next day, most of us were still somewhat dazed. No jet engines running on the ramp, and the terminal was cloaked in a deathly like silence, few people talked, only when they had too. Everyone's eyes were still glued to the TVs in the terminal. All the world that next day were trying to absorb as much information as possible. Some people literally broke down, others, were angry by now. I was among the ones whose saddness turned to anger. I suppose the best way to describe the entire atmosphere, was somber.

America wasn't attacked by a country, America wasn't attacked because of some bungled foreign policy move. America was attacked because of the God we worship. A holy war was declared on us, unprovoked, and unexpected. A cowardly act of violence perpetrated by a faceless enemy. Many Americans are in denial of this holy war, but here we are, 9 years later, and our America is not the same. It troubles me that so many Americans have forgotten the events of 9/11/2001, and how empty, but at the same time in solidarity we were on 9/12/2001. We can not allow this dreadful episode in America to pass into the darkness. We can not allow 9/11 to become just another terrible day in history. We can not allow it to ever become a one paragraph blurb in a history book. As the attack on Pearl Harbor, 9/11 must also be a day that will live in infamy. Like the Holocaust, 9/11 must always be remembered for what it was, a brutal and cowardly attack upon 3,000 innocent people, and the nation they lived in.

It wasn't just America that was attacked that day, but the entire free world. The truth about who the enemy was that day has been revealed. The enemy was Islam, and still is today. Americans can turn a blind eye, but they can not deny the truth. Today, Islam continues to preach hated against America, Christians, and Jews. The Muslim holy book, is a collection of the rants and raves of a barbaric lunatic named Mohammad. The followers of Mohammad are not the friends of America, their holy book, the Qu'ran forbids taking Infidels as friends. I can't understand how the truth of Islam's teachings are still being ignored. Someday, every American will know that Islam is like a cancer, slowly they will take over our nation, and another shot may never have to be fired. Islam has instilled a fear in America, and it is that fear of Islam that makes this country blind to our true enemies. America must always remember, Islam has no tolerance of any other faith, so, we must remain on guard.

GOD HELP US