The Tenth Anniversary of 9/11: A Day of Remembrance

A few years ago I wrote a well detailed post about my personal experience on September 11, 2011. My experience was unique in one way because I was a missionary at the time and my area was the Great Lakes Navy Base in Chicago. Also known as the NAVY boot camp.... Truly a miraculous experience for me personally.

Tonight however, I want to reflect on the event as a whole. I realized tonight that I really don't know my family member's answers to the most poignant question of, "where were you on that September morning?" So family (or friends), if you're reading this, please send me your answer in the comments section, or an email!

Leif and I watched a video clip on Fox News tonight that showed the news cast of the attacks from the very beginning  through the afternoon. It was condensed of course. But WOW, I was amazed at how very real it felt and everything came back to me in a flood of emotions. And then to know what was going to happen before it happened. It was surreal. And so... speechless... I'm speechless. It still shocks me at the magnitude of the whole day's events and the impact and change that it made in our country and to it's people.

I reflected on the heroes of that day. Particularly the heroes of Flight 93. We listened to President Bush's speech he gave this year at the Flight 93 Memorial. It reminded me of their courage and strength and their ultimate and selfless sacrifice for our country. So many people gave their lives that day to help another person. And so many more have given their lives to prevent such an attack from happening again.

It's hard for some of the people in our country to support the military in the war against terror any longer. It's feels like such a long war and to many people it doesn't feel worth the sacrifice. But can you imagine if we would have given up that day... decided that we had already sacrificed enough lives for the cause? The thought seems absurd. These men an women fighting for our peace recognize that if they weren't fighting and the brilliant minds here at home weren't gathering and sifting through intelligence, all working together, we would not feel safe enough to even fathom stopping the fight. What I'm trying to say is THANK YOU, thank you for protecting us even when it's hard. Thank you for fighting for us even when we're not grateful. Thank you!

I will climb in my bed tonight and listen to the rumbling of the thunder and the pounding of the rain and I can't help think that maybe that's how it felt to be there that morning, thundering sounds and a downpour of dust and debris. And then I will remember my precious sailors and soldiers that I taught the gospel to and how so many of them left for war within the year after that day and some of them are still fighting for my freedom and peace of mind to this day. My guess is that the sound of cracking thunder and pounding rain just might be similar to the sounds of the battlefield. Thank you my beloved friends, for fighting anyway!