9/11 hit very close to home for me personally. I had met with two of the head engineers in the Twin Towers two weeks beforehand. I was working on selling them a wireless host network system. Fancy words for saying that we would put the equipment in the buildings so that cell phones and wireless devices would work throughout the buildings. With brokers in the building, it was a perfect fit. They could check their stock updates whether they were in the restroom, the elevator, or the basement. As I toured the building, I remember thinking that the buildings and the campus were majestic, an architectural marvel, and an incredible symbol of American business. As I left New York, I made arrangements to call and schedule a meeting for our engineers and me to meet with their engineers within a few weeks.
As planned, I called the Twin Towers to schedule the meeting. I suggested September 11th at 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. One of the engineers could not be contacted via his two-way radio, so we decided to tentatively plan on meeting that day and that we would confirm as soon as possible. A couple of days passed and I was able to schedule a meeting with the Super Dome in New Orleans. They wanted to meet on September 11th. So I called my contacts at the Twin Towers and told them that I needed to know if September 11th would work or not because the Super Dome was wanting to schedule that day. In a split-second decision, the engineer said that it would be OK to schedule for September 18th at the same time. I assured him that the Twin Towers were my priority and that I would be happy to meet with them the 11th. He said it was no big deal, the 18th would work out well.
I was on the way to O'Hare Airport when my wife called me and told me that a plane had hit the Tower. I remember telling her that I was glad I wasn't there because the guys that I was meeting with would be really busy trying to get the place back in order. I had no idea what had really just happened!
I don't know why I wasn't at those buildings that day. I don't know that I have a special purpose in life. It could be that I simply wasn't ready to die that day. Whatever the reason, I know that it just wasn't my day to go. In the year's since that day, I have often thought of the second chances that I have been afforded and have learned to appreciate the small things in life.
Unfortunately, I believe that some of the messages of September 11th have been swept under the rug. For example, immigration and homeland security will not profile individuals that match the criteria of the terrorists on September 11th. Ironically, I am the one that is always searched at the airport. Also, our military leaders refuse to take action from the ranks until it's too late and an incident happens like the shootings at Fort Hood. Obama will not allow the word 'jihadist" to be used and the U.S. national security strategy documents removed the words "Islamic extremism" as required by him.
Michelle Malkin recently wrote, "Similarly, too many teachers refuse to show and tell who the perpetrators of 9/11 were and who their heirs are today. My own daughter was one year old when the Twin Towers collapsed, the Pentagon went up in flames and Shanksville, Pa., became hallowed ground for the brave passengers of United Flight 93. In second grade, her teachers read touchy-feely stories about peace and diversity to honor the 9/11 dead. They whitewashed Osama bin Laden, militant Islam and centuries-old jihad out of the curriculum. Apparently, the youngsters weren’t ready to learn even the most basic information about the evil masterminds of Islamic terrorism."
In school systems in America today, teachers are instructed not to talk about the bombing of the Twin Towers by crazed lunatics. Instead, they are instructed to teach about intolerance and hurtful words. My guess is that those hurtful words do not include words such as “Kill the Jews,” “Allahu Akbar” and “Behead all those who insult Islam” that are screamed by the jihadists on a daily basis.
America has been hated for over 200 years now by Koran-inspired soldiers of Allah. It is not George Bush's fault, it is not Ronald Reagan's fault, and it is not the fault of the innocent victims of 9/11. Ten years later, it is well past time to leave behind the political rhetoric of the leftist liberals, teach the truth about our enemies, and make a united stand. We still are the United States of America.
God bless the U.S.A.
P.S. I was very moved by the video and story that I have attached below. It speaks to the spirit of the brave men and women that gave all on that fateful September day. I think I am especially moved because this young man, Welles Crowther, Jr. was an athlete and an aspiring fireman - two things that are near and dear to my heart.
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