UD and Tgalf,
I currently fly A-10's for the Ct Air National Guard. I remember quite vividly the events of Sept 11th. Our unit was stationed at Al Jaber Air Base,Kuwait the day it happened. I was in the command post just getting ready to step to the jet in support of the no fly zone mission over Iraq. All the men and women stood in complete disbelief as we watched real time on CNN/Fox news. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Here we were, about to fly a mission aginst Sadam and the terrorists in Iraq, we had all that firepower hung beneath the jets, we had computers, satellites, the latest and greates technology known to man, yet there was nothing we could do to defend our friends and families back home. It was the most hopeless, empty feeling imaginable to those of us who pride ourselves in our ability to protect and defend our nation. It was amazing that we could complete the mission at all that day. All we could think of was NY city and all those people and their families. We returned home about a month later to a whole new world. I'll never forget our first training mission afterwards which took us to the Warren Grove Gunnery Range, just North of Atlantic City. The first taste of reality was when we had to coordinate and talk with the Air Cap over NYC, and then, of course, flying by the city and seeing ground zero from the air for the first time. It was almost sureal. like a dream. It was a very emotional experience for me, and continues to be, as we fly by the city 1-2 times each week. It will never be "old hat", just like Pearl Harbor could never be to my grandfathers generation. I have yet to experience it on the ground, but plan to take my children soon so they may understand just what freedom is all about. genX and even my baby boomer generation, tend to view the revolutionary war, civil war, world wars, korea, vietnam and desert storm like a history lesson that is nice to know, but not applicable to todays world. ground zero is a humbling and tragic reminder to us all, that freedom is not cheap, and we have it because of brave men and women, not all in the military either, who paid the supreme price to insure you and I could have all the excesses we enjoy, and abuse today. You see, all of us, regardless of who we are and what we believe, have this unique and blessed life here in the USA becuase others have secured that right for them. Not because we deserve it. Without the thousands of lives that have been lost, they would be sitting in a third world style country eating camel dung and praying for the end of a miserable existance. The reality is, some people have to roll up their sleeves and shed blood in pursuit of freedom. That is as true TODAY as it was 100 years ago, and it will always be that way. It's not fun, and those who do it are as scared as anyone else, but if we don't continue to fight for our rights and freedom, they will be lost. This is not a spectators sport. Our lives and our children's will never be the same, we can not change that now. But we can instill in our children the will to survive and protect what we treasure, family, friends and neighbors, community service, life, the right to worship the 1 true God, and most important, accept the responsibility to get involved and be active in determining the outcome of the future for them and their children and for the generations 200 years from now (God willing). This is what ground zero means to me. It is the ultimate reality check, it lets us know that we will always be engaged and active an our efforts to REMAIN free. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone directly effected by this tragic event. Thanks for the thread Brian.

[This message has been edited by B2 (edited 01-23-2002).]