9/11 My P.O.V.

Everyone has a 9/11 story…
This is mine and it’s a different Point Of View than many people…
…Because I’m not just proud to be an American…
I’m a Child of this planet.

I was in Southern Spain, Arcos De La Frontera to be exact.
We, my Ex and I, had spent the morning traversing around town as I took pictures and then we headed in for a siesta. We had no T.V. or radio and were completely disconnected from the world.
Later that evening we headed out for something to eat and found ourselves in a Tapas bar.
There the T.V. was on.
…we sat in horrified amazement and silence with the locals as we watched the replay of the days events.
We headed back to our Hotel and talked about the Pentagon…how many people we knew there….We were confident we wouldn’t know anyone in the Twin Towers.
…But ALL those people?!

Like most people we know where we were on 9/11 and it changed all of us.

It was the aftermath though…

When we got home the Gate Guards at Langley that knew me inspected my bags as I stood outside of my car, there was a noticeable change in everyones attitude…

...Noticeably the everyday run of the mill American.

Strangers were in the Military…
Only 1 percent of the citizens of the U.S. Serve in the Military.
Only 5 percent actually know someone that Serves now.

Now it was someone’s Father/Mother/Son/Daughter/Sister/Brother…
…No longer Strangers.

Terrorists and War had/have been playing a part in my life since I was a Child, but they had never hit my Home Country.
Through my eyes, and many others that are/were involved with the Military, the U.S. had been in harms way for years. We had already lost Friends, not Strangers, to Terrorists.

I said above War had always been a part of my life…
Growing up in the Middle East men with machine guns camped out on top of our building as we Children would roller skate around the Compound where we lived…
…We weren’t allowed to play War.
…Because of what ever it is that my Dad did for a living, insert here various stories, languages and such…
…When our Armed Forces went into Kuwait my Dad called that day…
…”Don’t worry, everything is cool.”
He had been gone for months already.
…One year he had to travel back to my Birth place, Roberts Field, Liberia for ‘work'. The house we had lived in destroyed by Mortar Shells…everyone that worked for my family…either dead or gone.

Then in 1996 I married the Military.

When those planes crashed, into the Ground, The Pentagon and The Towers we Americans changed.
We became like the rest of the World…
…Vulnerable…
And for a bit every year on this day, September 11, we actually stand together...

Osama Bin Laden was told that We would not stop and We would find him. Then this year some of the Baddest Mother Fuckers in the World did just that.
We have a long way to go still and honestly I believe it’s war where there will be no winners…
…But it’s one we must fight.

…War…
What good can come out of it?
Without War, we would not be Americans.
The United States Of America, the home of the Brave, would be but a member of the British Empire.

If we lay our Arms down and stop our vigilant stance we WILL be attacked again.
The Terrorists continually plan on disrupting our peaceful (ish) lives.
…And while you are busy living your everyday life...
That 1% of our Society protects us, leaving their families at home and sacrifice their lives…
They HAVE stopped Terrorist attacks…
…and they are systematically killing off the leaders of these terrorist groups and most of you don’t even know the headway we have made…

I sound a bit like a Hawk, but those people, the Doves that are Anti-War, are looking at the World through Rose Coloured Glasses.

…Most Americans didn’t grow up like me or have even had minuscule amounts of the life experiences I have had. 

I wish my Children could live in a World free of War…but as long as Humans walk we will never not know conflict.
There will always be someone out there that wants to take something from someone else, convert someone to another Religion or just wants power over people.

…And some people will just stand by and let it happen…
While The Free and The Brave fight back.