Submitted by
Rick
Submitted by
Bob Koch
USMC Veteran
EMT from PA
Submitted by Friso, a proud American from The Netherlands
911*
As twins we stood there proudly,
For all the world to see.
A bold symbol of our country,
In the shadows of Ms. Liberty.
But on this day in history,
Hatred pierced our hearts.
We stood there bleeding fire and smoke,
Not wanting to depart.
But hatred won the battle,
And we could stand no more.
Our bodies started downward,
As souls rose through our floors.
The souls of men and women,
Who gladly paid the cost.
To save the lives of moms and dads,
And buddies that were lost.
Now we lay in shambles,
The souls, yes, they live on.
But hatred did not win the war.
The flag still flies at home.
This day won't be forgotten,
And those who hate will pay.
May God "still" bless America,
On this and every day.
Ray Howard, Jr.
*Sept. 11
"The evidence of terrorism's brutality and inhumanity, of its contempt for life and the concept of peace, is lying beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center less than two miles from where we meet today."
"Let those who say that we must understand the reasons for terrorism come with me to the thousands of funerals we're having in New York City — thousands — and explain those insane, maniacal reasons to the children who will grow up without fathers and mothers and to the parents who have had their children ripped from them for no reason at all,"
""On this issue — terrorism — the United Nations must draw a line. The era of moral relativism between those who practise or condone terrorism and those who stand up against it must end. There's no moral way to sympathise with grossly immoral actions . . . Unfortunately by trying to do that, a fertile field for terrorism has grown."
Rudy Giuliani's speech to the UN.
"Payback"
submitted by
Jeff
A Child Asks
"Mommy, if the hijackers wanted to die, why didn't they stop the planes and
let the people off first".
Leigha Johnson, age 9, asked this of her mother, Theresa Johnson, a visitor to our site.
I feel it captures the very essence of the kindness and innocence of America
and especially of our children.
It seems inconceivable to us that anybody
would ever do such a thing on purpose.
It also illustrates how parents here and all over the world, like Theresa,
teach love and compassion to their children.
It is a hard question to answer but a profound question to ask.
God Bless you, Leigha.
"We will put a trap around the regime. Its choice is surrender bin Laden or surrender power."
"No one can ever justify the events of September 11 and it is to turn justice on its head to pretend it could."
"There is no compromise with such people. Our choice is to defeat them or be defeated by them -- and defeat them we must."
"Our way of life is a great deal stronger and will last a great deal longer than the actions of fanatics who are small in number and now face a unified world against them,"
"The action we take will be proportionate and targeted, we will do all we humanly can to avoid civilian casualties."
"I say to the Taleban, surrender the terrorists or surrender power. It is your choice."
Tony Blair
Prime Minister of Great Britain
America, Why I Love Her
You ask me why I love her? Well, give me time, and I'll explain...
Have you seen a Kansas sunset or an Arizona rain?
Have you drifted on a bayou down Louisiana way?
Have you watched the cold fog drifting over San Francisco Bay?
Have you heard a Bobwhite calling in the Carolina pines?
Or heard the bellow of a diesel in the Appalachia mines?
Does the call of Niagara thrill you when you hear her waters roar?
Do you look with awe and wonder at a Massachusetts shore...
Where men who braved a hard new world, first stepped on Plymouth Rock?
And do you think of them when you stroll along a New York City dock ?
Have you seen a snowflake drifting in the Rockies...way up high?
Have you seen the sun come blazing down from a bright Nevada sky?
Do you hail to the Columbia as she rushes to the sea...
Or bow your head at Gettysburg...in our struggle to be free?
Have you seen the mighty Tetons? ...Have you watched an eagle soar?
Have you seen the Mississippi roll along Missouri's shore?
Have you felt a chill at Michigan, when on a winters day,
Her waters rage along the shore in a thunderous display?
Does the word "Aloha"... make you warm?
Do you stare in disbelief When you see the surf come roaring in at Waimea reef?
From Alaska's gold to the Everglades...from the Rio Grande to Maine...
My heart cries out... my pulse runs fast at the might of her domain.
You ask me why I love her?... I've a million reasons why.
My beautiful America... beneath Gods' wide, wide sky.
John Wayne on "Why he loves America"
Submitted by Rick
"Heros All"
sumitted by
Jerry
The Fireman's Prayer
When I'm called to duty God
wherever flames may rage
give me strength to save a life
whatever be its age
Help me to embrace a little child
before it is too late
or save an older person from
the horror of that fate
Enable me to be alert
to hear the weakest shout
and quickly and efficiently
to put the fire out
I want to fill my calling and
to give the best in me
to guard my neighbour and
protect his property
And if according to your will
I have to lose my life
bless with your protecting hand
my children and my wife
submitted by
Rick
a fellow fireman and EMT hero
in honor of his "brothers"
"War"
submitted by
Pam
AN HOUR BEFORE DAWN and this gigantic engine of a city that never sleeps is trying to. It has never been so quiet here. There is no traffic. We are sealed off from the world. The tunnels and bridges are closed. People streamed out of the city yesterday and today will not be permitted back in while workers try to determined the enormity of what has happened. The death and suffering has just begun. Whole floors of the twin towers have been blown to kingdom come. There were people there. The sky rained bodies and paper, plaster and steel and burning jet fuel. Inside the towering apartment buildings and brownstones and tenements hearts are seized with horror and apprehension. We know not what the light will bring. We are a six-degrees-of-separation city. Everyone knows someone who knows someone else. They have not told us yet whom we have lost. They don't even know who is gone.
And in the stillness, there are tiny signs that life goes on. The New York Post lands with a soft and reassuring plop outside the door. The other papers are struggling to find a way into the city from their outlying printing plants. An E mail says that a long sought handle to an '89 frig has been located and is on the way. The noisy vent fan on the roof of the Chinese restaurant across the street grinds on. The cat knows nothing, simply wants to be fed.
The television runs the continuous loop of the horror of yesterday on mute. The Mayor is on a local channel, red eyed and broken hearted at the initial loss of 200 fireman and 78 police. On other channels, reruns of ordinarily meticulously groomed talking blondes standing in the street, covered with grime, repeating what they think has happened.
The stalled papers are being held up on TV. Their front pages say "War." We will never be the same again. We have just begun to weep.
Pray for us. God Bless America.
Lucianne Goldberg
Three Weeks Later
"Praying For A Miracle"
submitted by
Trish
NEW YORK Two nights after two hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center, causing it to collapse in a mound of twisted wreckage, Frank Silecchia had just helped remove three bodies from the rubble when he looked up and saw a scene he says transfixed him.
Among the debris from Tower One that had crashed onto the floor of the atrium of Building 6, the laborer with Local 731 said he saw steel beams strewn about in the shape of crosses that reminded him of depictions of Calvary, where Jesus and two thieves were crucified.
"I seen this picture of Calvary with three, four crosses in it. The main structure of Christ's cross was in front of me. It took my breath away," said Silecchia.
Jordan persuaded city authorities to pull the largest of the crosses from the wreckage intact and save it as a memorial. The cross will be removed from its resting place in the wreckage in a ceremony Thursday afternoon.
"Our country is hurting right now, and I can't think of a better way to strengthen it -- through God's hands. It ain't a point of religion, it's a point of faith."
submitted by
Bill
The Rescuer's Prayer
Lord we're not here to be a hero or to be seen or t.v.
we're here to serve a purpose , to save a human being.
Amidst the death and destruction, give us strength to carry on.
Let the light of your love shine , as the whole country mourns.
Give our ears the sensitivity to hear the faintest sound.
Give us courage to keep going until the last person is found.
Even though we know so many precious lives were lost
we will bring them home to their loved ones, no matter what the cost.
The walls may crash in around us and the skies may turn deathly gray
But we will go back to ground zero......another day.
written by A.K. Boyce
submitted by
Rick
Judging from the foreign press, the most popular world reaction to the terrorist attacks on America has not been outright condemnation, but rather: "Yes, but . . ." Yes, this was terrible, but somehow America deserved it or is responsible for the anger behind it.
One can only be amazed at the ease with which some people abroad and at campus teach-ins now tell us what motivated the terrorists. Guess what? The terrorists didn't leave an explanatory note. Because their deed was their note: We want to destroy America, starting with its military and financial centers. Which part of that sentence don't people understand?
Thomas L. Friedman
A Proper Place
They say the measure of a man is determined by what he does in private,
without applause
or awards
or TV cameras.
They didn't care whether we were watching
or holding signs
or asking for interviews.
It was nice, but they didn't need it
didn't ask for it
didn't expect it.
It was never about them, the living.
It was about them, the lost;
those they knew and loved,
and those they'd never met.
Most of us have gone home, now,
back to some semblance of a normal life.
But, they're still there...
digging
hoping
praying
no longer for a miracle,
but for closure.
Everybody deserves that much.
They know how few they will find,
but still,
they dig
and hope
and pray.
No longer for a rescue,
but for a recovery;
someone they can kneel beside,
cover with a flag of dignity,
salute
and carry, ever so carefully,
to a proper place
to say
good-bye.
written by
Trish
for my daughter