In Rememberance 9/11/01

[Breezy3]

 

[Tangeloper]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030904-7.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 4, 2003​

Patriot Day, 2003
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation ​

Two years ago, more than 3,000 innocent people lost their lives when a calm September morning was shattered by terrorists driven by hatred and destruction.

On that day, and in its aftermath, we saw the greatness of America in the bravery of victims; in the heroism of first responders who laid down their lives to save others; in the compassion of people who stepped forward to help those they had never met; and in the generosity of millions of Americans who enriched our country with acts of service and kindness. Since that day, we have seen the greatness of America further demonstrated in the courage of our brave men and women in uniform who have served and sacrificed in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and around the world to advance freedom and prevent terrorist attacks on America.

As we remember September 11, 2001, we reaffirm the vows made in the earliest hours of our grief and anger. As liberty's home and defender, America will not tire, will not falter, and will not fail in fighting for the safety and security of the American people and a world free from terrorism. We will continue to bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to them. This Patriot Day, we hold steady to this task.
By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress has designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2003, as Patriot Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services and candlelight vigils. I also call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day. In addition, I call upon all Americans to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent victims who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-eighth.




GEORGE W. BUSH

# # #

 

[Breezy3]

yes it is Breezy,
I have games, Sim City, that the twin towers was part of the things that could be placed in the cities I created.
I have never been able to play them since that day

I can understand that!

 

[Breezy3]

I am going to bed now!

Don't forget to check out post 57 and listen. This is done by a child!!

God bless you all!

 

[Tangeloper]

Recovered cross at the WTC!

I always thought that was so amazing! Thank you for posting it... A beautiful reminder that He is always at our side -- even in the darkest of days...

 

[Tangeloper]

I am going to bed now!

Don't forget to check out post 57 and listen. This is done by a child!!

God bless you all!

Good night, and God bless you Breezy!

 

[JPPT1974]

Praying for those that lost loved ones
And their families six years later.


Never, ever forget.

 

[LovesToRead]

I'm also going to bed now. Thanks to all who are stopping by and keeping this thread going.

Please remember it goes all day tomorrow, until the day is over on the West coast. So, if that takes more than one thread, we will to for more than one....

Good night to all!

 

[LovedbyHim4ever]

I just listened to the recording from post #57 and it made me cry so hard I couldn't even finish listening to it. It is a sad day in deed, this 6th anniversary. My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the victims of 9/11.

MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

 

[warrrior4him007]

after spending all night on line in a chat site i had awaken i had went back to the chat room i herd about the towers going down a friend told me to turn my tv on i was wtheckand o Jesus

 

[Tangeloper]

A 9/11 Poem I found tonight on the internet:

COPY AND PASTED NOT SENT TO ME PERSONALLY:
The following 9-11 Poem sent to me in 2002 - Authored by Donna, in England
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A normal day as autumn sings
Then evil flew with silver wings
And England froze in disbelief
Like statues wearing masks of grief
Broken lionhearts roar in pain
Salt water falls instead of rain
And we were bound in helpless crying
Whilst flesh of our flesh lay dying
A sea of tears with waves so pure
To break upon a new york shore

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Donna signed her Email to me:
"with utmost love and respect for all our American Cousins"

 

[hopeofsalvation]

Oh wow, it is 9/11 now,
Being caught up in life, this had slipped my mind, thank you sooo much for starting this thread, so I can remember of that day and pray for all the empty lives that was left behind because of that horrible day.
I just had gotten up that morning and turned on the tv and saw it. I thought it was a movie of some sort I was like no way this isnt real! And here is the "hair stand up on my arm" kicker of it all. Me, my hubby, and our son was just at the front steps of the trade center about 2weeks before the 11th. We live in Georgia and we have been to NYC over 20times. (business and pleasure trips)
And ever time we always said that we needed to take the time and go into the buildings. As a matter of fact that last trip before, was business and we said ok, if we get done in time we will this time go in, well, we didnt get done in time before it closed that day. (Just goes to show that we never know what lies ahead in life, so cherish what you have, and get ready for the coming of God cause that will happen unexpected just like the Twin Towers) I still remember the first time our son saw those buildings. He stood there right in front of the doors and looked straight up with a "wow" face! So the next time we went to New York City, driving into the city, it just didnt look like New York anymore, I began to cry. We visited the spot but couldnt see anything for they had a privacy fence up all the way around. And there is a church just a few blocks down that has like an old timey iron fence around the church, and there were pictures, flowers, candles, clothes, firefighter's hats, all the way around the whole fence, and it was a big yard that it was going around. That event was very emotional for me, and we dont "know" anyone that has been affected by it. But it feels so close to home to me when I think about it. If anyone that is reading this had loved ones involved by this, my deepest prayers go out to you and remember that God is always by your side. If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it! For there will always be evil in this world. God Bless Everyone on this day!!!

 

[warrrior4him007]

 

[hopeofsalvation]

wow I think that has been my longest post yet, lol !
Loves and Hugs to all !!

 

[Tangeloper]

Rick Rescola was one of many heros lost on 9/11. He died while trying to lead people out of one of the towers... Some of you may also recall that Rick was one of the men portrayed in Mel Gibson's movie, "We Were Soldiers" -- in my next post I will paste an article written about Rick... A True American Hero!!!

Here is a poem about Rick:

IN REMEMBRANCE OF RICK RESCOLA
HERO
A little clutch of veterans share a table in a bar,
There's a guy off in the corner coaxing tunes from his guitar.
They watch the Hudson River as it rolls towards the bend
And they talk of Rick Rescorla as a comrade and a friend.
While out across the water, many ocean-miles away
Within a Cornish Tavern by a sandy Cornish Bay,
Another group are gathered, reminiscing as a clan,
And their thoughts are all of Tammy, from the schoolboy to the man.
And every head among them has a picture in its mind
Which time and place and memory have captured and consigned,
Now the pictures weld together until only one remains,
Of a sturdy, selfless hero guiding others from the flames.
It's a picture which unites them in their glory and their grief,
More eloquent than eulogies, confirming their belief
That theirs had been a privilege to saunter at his side
And in the way he'd lived his life had Rick Rescorla died.
The veterans recalled him in the killing fields of war
As a man whose potent presence would inspire and reassure,
Just one among his brothers when the skies began to fall,
Yet one whom they regarded as a father to them all.
And now their eyes will moisten at the mention of his name
And the sources and the substance of the legend he became,
When mayhem drove the best of men to crave their mother's love,
He'd stand and croon an anthem to the gory gods above.
And on that evil morning, so deceptively serene,
Amid another carnage, just as callous and obscene
Again he took the mantle of the sainted and the strong
To save the lives of others with a blessing and a song.
Between the Hudson River and the sandy shores of Hayle,
Though eyes encompass differences of latitude and scale,
All hands are linked together in the testament they bear,
They are but Rick Rescorla’s friends, united by a prayer.
By David Prowse – 2001 - WESTERN MORNING NEWS – Cornwall UK

 

[Tangeloper]

Does anyone remember the name of that drawing by the young girl done right after 9/11? The one with Lady Liberty holding a child, and a gun... That is one of my favorite pictures inspired by 9/11.

 

[warrrior4him007]

On the morning of September 11, 2001, David was scheduled to appear in court with his attorney. The courthouse is located on Centre Street, approximately four blocks away from the Trade Center. He watched both Towers erupt into flames on the news over his morning coffee but decided to head downtown anyway.

When asked why he did this, David thinks for a moment and responds, 'I don't know. I watched the explosions on TV but it sorta didn't register right then what was really happening. Nobody really had any context to attach to the event, you know? Nothing like this had ever happened before. So I figured, well, I have this court date. And court dates are important. Can't miss that. So I got on the subway and headed downtown, straight into the disaster zone. You know what? I think I might have been in shock. Looking back, that's really weird behavior.'

David was not alone. In fact, a surprising number of New Yorkers interviewed for Tower Stories recall how their first reaction to the immense destruction of the World Trade Center was one of peculiar implacability. Many report not being able to feel any emotion for days.

IN HIS WORDS:
I got up at about 8:15 on the morning of the 11th and the phone rang at 8:45. My roommate's mom was on the phone, so I rousted him from bed and passed him the portable. She didn't say what she was calling about and I didn't ask. A few minutes later, my roommate stumbled out into the living room with this weird expression on his face. He said, 'Dude, turn on the TV.'

So I clicked on the set and there it was: a big, gaping hole in the one of the World Trade Towers with smoke and flames gushing out of it. The TV announcer was in the middle of hypothesizing what the cause of the incident was. He said, A plane has hit the building. This is confirmed. At this point no one is sure if it's related to a screw up in air traffic control or perhaps a malfunction on the plane itself? We're still trying to make sense of this...

My roommate and I were standing there watching the coverage when all of a sudden – from out of nowhere – the second plane zoomed on in and charged straight into the other Tower. Fire! Explosion! Now we had Gaping Hole Number Two. My roommate and I just sort of looked at each other. We didn't say a thing. I don't think either of us could believe our eyes at that point. It was like, is this some kind of joke? This is the trailer for a horror film, right? Tell me this is the trailer for a horror film, please...

We watched. I had a cup of coffee in my hand and I sipped it. On TV, the commentator's voice became really stressed out and he started shifting his observations toward, ladies and gentlemen, this must be a terrorist attack of some sort! The United States is under attack! I remember feeling a little funny, like I was drunk or something. Not thinking clearly. But I do remember thinking this: that's right. A terrorist attack. It's got to be. Plane accidents like that don't happen twice in a row.

* * *​

That morning I had a meeting scheduled with my attorney downtown before we attended a court date. My lawyer's office was right across the street from the Trade Towers, but that didn’t really register with me. I finally looked up at the clock I noticed I was running late. It seemed like I'd only been watching the TV coverage for a moment, it turned out to be more like 45 minutes. I threw on my suit coat and ran out the door by 9:30. Then [from the Upper West Side] I took a cab over to the east side, 51st Street where I caught the 6 train going downtown. I sort of wasn't really thinking about this part, either. But I was heading straight into the heart of the disaster.

Just before I hit the tunnels, I noticed that my cell phone had stopped getting reception. Guess that was part of what was happening at the Towers. No one would have noticed that underground, though. Pagers, Blackberries, cell phones, none of that stuff worked in the subways anyway. I also noticed that there were MTA guys scattered all over the [subway] platforms with their hardhats and orange vests. They were getting reports in over their radios about which trains in the subway system were still running, which ones weren't.

All of a sudden there was a big commotion on the platform I was at. Some kind of announcement had been made and whatever it was really rocked people off their feet. I couldn't hear what was being said, so I grabbed the arm of MTA guy passing by, asked him what happened. He told me that our train was probably one of the last trains heading downtown. When the train pulled in I got on and noticed that most of the people riding in my car didn't seem to have a clue as to what was going on.

* * *​

I got off at City Hall and it was pretty apparent that news was breaking fast. I took the stairs up from the tunnels to the street, and I specifically remember the police officer who was standing at the top of the stairs, directing people. A black man in a tan suit, white shirt, and a tie. About six-one years old with a little male pattern baldness in the front and a little in the back. I knew he was a cop because he had a flip-out badge opened on his belt and he was definitely an authority figure. He was sweating and yelling, gesturing wildly with his arms and screaming at people. 'Move, move, move! Come on now! Move, god dammit! Move!' He was sending everybody who came out of the tunnels back north.

The first thing I noticed on the street was that a lot of people were just sort of standing around, ignoring the policeman entirely. Everyone had their faces turned up to the sky – they were watching something – so I looked up, too. And that's when I saw it. The World Trade Center was in flames. From where I was, the line of sight was broken by smaller buildings, but the Towers were so tall, you could easily see the top 50 or 60 floors. You could see where the planes had gone in, the smoke and the fire and the soot that was coming out. Debris was falling from the holes in the buildings. I think I saw the bodies of people either jumping or falling from the sky.

At first I could only see the South Tower burning. But I walked a little ways and from a different point of view I could clearly see them both. Again, I had that peculiar feeling of being drunk or something. Like, this isn't really happening, is it? Is it?!? Then there was a huge noise like the roar of the ocean and the first Tower began to slide down into itself and crumble.

People started running north. Away. We were only six blocks away from the base of the Towers. I stood there, frozen, watching the Tower collapse into itself and sink out of sight until it disappeared behind a lower building. And I felt a little uncertainty. Like, did it fall over? Did it fall straight down? Did it take out four or five blocks of the City? What exactly just happened? None of this made any sense at the time. It still doesn’t really.

I just stood there staring in disbelief and I guess I must have been in shock because I suddenly realized I was practically all alone there in the street and now I could see why people were running. The cloud. This gray-brown gush of dirt boiling right toward me, real fast, pushing up the street, climbing up the walls of buildings, eating everything in its path.

I started to back up. I was staring at the cloud and walking backwards in slow motion. It wouldn't be until several days later that I finally acknowledged that the cloud did in fact hit me. Slammed right into me. But I don't remember it happening. I think I sort of blocked that part out of my mind. All I know is that suddenly I'd turned around and now I was running. Couldn't really see where I was going. Bumping into parked cars and slamming into who knows what. I ran. I ran until I outpaced the cloud by just a little bit. And after I'd gotten maybe two blocks, I turned my head and saw what had happened. The cloud had pulled up and was just sort of sitting there, it wasn't moving toward me anymore. 'd outrun it. I'd beaten it.

* * *​

The next thing I remember doing, oddly enough - I started hunting through the crowd of people for my attorney I wasn't concerned for his safety, I think I was more or less looking for a friendly face, someone I knew whose presence would confirm for me that yes, this was indeed happening. This wasn’t a bad dream. This was real.

It was tough hunting for him in that crowd. People were screaming, people were crying, people were running. It was madness. Lots of people were punching buttons on their cell phones but of course that got them nowhere. The signals were all dead. The microwave antennae, I guess, had been on top of the Tower that had fallen and now... now it wasn't there anymore. All anyone heard was a rapid busy signal in response to any number they dialed. I couldn’t find my attorney anywhere so I stopped looking for him.

Long lines of people started forming at the payphones, which I thought was interesting. Most times in New York nobody bothers with public telephones. They sort of became useless years ago.

I hung around for awhile. I guess I kept walking because eventually I found myself in front of the courthouse, talking to a police officer. Believe it or not, part of me was still concerned about my court date. I just wanted to make sure that court wasn't in session for the day, so I asked the cop. He gave me this really strange look like I'd just said something very odd. And he said, 'No. Court is not in session.'

After that, he began to insist that I head north. The police were directing a steady stream of refugees away from the World Trade Center, toward whatever safety we could find. I sort of ignored him and hung around downtown for awhile. I know that doesn't make much sense. Very little that I saw that day does. I guess I was still in shock and part of me wanted to see what might happen next.

* * *​

Just before the second Tower fell, I was walking west, trying to get a different view of what was happening. I hadn't eaten anything at all and it was 10:30 in the morning, now, I was getting hungry. So I stopped into a McDonald's to get an Egg McMuffin. I went up to the counter and put my order in – the girl behind the register seemed very weirded out by everything that was going on, but she still took my cash. All of a sudden, this guy comes into the store and walks right up to the counter. He's covered in white dust.

He might've been in his early 40s, but it was tough to tell. The dust masked everything. It was in his hair, on his clothes, everywhere. When he blinked, his eyes sort of disappeared. Maybe he was a white guy, but that might've been the dust, too. He was built heavy – heavy jowls, a belly, a few chins. Sort of your average middle-aged American guy. And he strolled right up to me and stood next to me in line, waiting for his turn at the counter like it's any other day. But he was visibly shaken. Sweating crazily.

The counter attendant came back with my McMuffin and handed it to me, looked past me, saw the guy and her jaw dropped a bit. She recovered pretty quick, though, and asked if she could get him anything. He said, 'Glass of water?' She turned to get him a drink.

I looked at this guy and said, 'You know you’re covered in dust.' Stupid thing to say, but like I said – that whole morning I was in shock. The guy said, 'Yeah?'

I said, 'How close were you?' And he said. 'I was right there, I started running.'

I said, 'Oh yeah? How fast?' He looked at me and said, 'Fast.'

 

[Tangeloper]

Vietnam Vet, Twin Towers Hero
Rick Rescorla, Cheerful Warrior
By Robert Poos

The first time I saw Rick Rescorla he was laughing, an infectious chortle as he told about the footrace he'd just won: with a Viet Cong squad doing its level best to kill him. So it came as no real surprise when the last thing I heard of him, was that he perished while trying to lead people to safety from the stricken World Trade Center twin towers after terrorist-hijacked airliners crashed into them.

That first meeting took place in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam in the early Fall of 1965 when I was a combat correspondent for the Associated Press and Cyril R. Rescorla (no one ever called him Cyril) was a Second Lieutenant platoon leader in B Company, First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, U.S. Army.

"Oh," he chuckled, "we did indeed do a bit of E and E'ing back there," pointing to a sergeant sitting on the side of a nearby creek bank as being the other part of the "we" who'd been doing the escaping and evading. "It was a bit of a close thing but it turned out all right, after all, now, didn't it!"

This was shortly after the Cavalry division's arrival in Vietnam and before the 7th cav's epic Ia Drang Valley campaign in which Rescorla distinguished himself in both the battles of Landing Zone X-Ray and Landing Zone Albany.

Rescorla had been directed to conduct a reconnaissance mission and as was typical of him, decided to do it himself, because he knew he was the best man on hand to do the job required and survive. For, unlike virtually everyone else in the outfit, Rescorla had real on-the-job experience at such stuff. He was something of a soldier of fortune, having been on active service in the British Army in Cyprus, doing the dangerous job of trying to keep Turkish and Greek guerrillas on the island from killing one another. He'd also done a tour with the British South African Police in what was then Rhodesia. (A word about the BSAP. It was not British, not South African and not a police force. It was a paramilitary unit which spent most of its time chasing Communist guerrillas in the former British colony.)

This display was typical of the way Rescorla went about leading a platoon of infantry. He led by example. He knew he was exceptionally good at what he did; he showed his men how to do it and then left it up to them. He also inspired them by his unfailing good humor and by doing something I've never before nor since Ñ and I've had a lot of experience at this stuff Ñ heard of any military leader of whatever rank doing Ñ sing to them,

One example of this is found in that fine book We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young, by former UPI correspondent Joe Galloway and Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore. The incident occurs during the Battle of LZ X Ray at a time during the night when it seems quite likely that a North Vietnamese Army regiment, which has the 7th Cav's First Battalion surrounded might very well attack the positions and overwhelm and wipe it out.

"When all else failed, Rescorla sang 'Wild Colonial Boy' and a Cornish favorite 'Going Up Cambrone Hill,' slow and steady tunes which were answered by shouts of 'Hard Corps' (the platoon's nickname) and 'Garry Owen,' the 7th Cav's battle cry and song."

Although he'd subsequently retired from the Army reserves as a colonel and become a top security executive for Morgan Stanley investment company, Rescorla changed very little over the years as is indicated in an article by Rob Jennings in the Morristown, N.J., Daily Record juste after the World Trade Center disaster.

"The last time anyone saw (Rick) Rescorla, 62, he was racing up and down stairs at the World Trade Center's south tower, singing 'God Bless America' through a bullhorn and calming nerves as he shepherded people to safety."

Many survivors credited Rescorla and his security team with saving their lives by leading them out of the crumbling tower prior to its collapse. The firm had some 3,700 employees in the Center but only a dozen or so were lost, according to news accounts. After the first hijacked airliner hit the Center's north tower, loudspeaker announcements advised Morgan Stanley employees Ñ between the 43rd and 73rd floors Ñ to stay where they were. Rescorla thought that bad advice and began leading people down stairwells.

"We had reports of him as low as the 10th floor and as high as the 73rd," said a daughter, Kim, 23. His wife of two years, Susan, said he'd called her on his cell phone and told her not to worry, that he was leading people out of the building and that he loved her. Shortly after that conversation, Rescorla apparently decided to take one more check of the higher floors to determine if anyone was still left. It was one check too many but that's the way Rick Rescorla did things.

At the battle of LZ Albany, Rescorla led a helicopter borne relief force to assist the 7th Cavalry's 2nd Battalion which had been surrounded and was in grave danger of being overrun after a desperate 24-hour fight. It was a "hot" LZ Ñ meaning there were enemy soldiers all around it Ñ the pilot of the helicopter flying Rescorla was shot in the arm as the troopers were jumping out Ñ but Rescorla was in his element. Lieutenant Larry Gwinn watched the relief arrive and, as quoted in the Galloway/Moore book:

"I saw Rick Rescorla come swaggering into our lines with a smile on his face, an M79 (grenade launcher) on his shoulder, his M16 in one hand, saying: 'Good. good. good. I hope they hit us with everything they got tonight. We'll wipe them up.' His spirit was catching. The troops were cheering as each load came in, and we really raised a racket. The enemy must've thought an entire battalion was coming in to help us.'"

Another witness, Lt. Pat Payne of the reconnaissance platoon, recalled, "I had the feeling we were actually being rescued, that the cavalry had, in fact, arrived, like in the movies. I admired the courage it took to land in Albany. Lieutenant Rescorla was one of the best combat leaders I saw in two tours of Vietnam. He walked around and pepped everyone up by telling them they'd done a good job ... he never raised his voice, spoke almost in a whisper. We were awfully glad to see him and the others from Bravo Company.

As the Albany fight flickered to its end, Rescorla, while checking the battlefield, out of the corner of an eye caught some movement and fired a burst from his M16. A couple of North Vietnamese who'd been playing dead, suddenly got that way for real. On one of them, Rescorla noticed something shiny.

As reported in We Were Soldiers ...

"On the dying enemy soldier, Rescorla (found) a big, battered old French Army bugle carrying a manufacture date of 1900 ... On some long ago battlefield, possibly Dien Bien Phu, the victorious Viet Minh, had taken it as a trophy. And marked their own legend; two crude Chinese characters tattooed into the brass bell with nailpoint. Rough translation: 'Long and Powerful Service.' Now here in the Ia Drang in the elephant grass, the trophy had changed hands again. The 7th cavalry had a bugle once more, and Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry would blow it time and time again on the battlefields of Vietnam."

I recall one of those times very well. I was with A Company, 2nd of the 7th, when it once again got surrounded by vastly superior North Vietnamese forces. The Cavalry Division was able to get in one helicopter flight of reinforcements before heavy rainfall grounded all aircraft. As the troopers leapt from the thundering Huey choppers, one of them sounded the charge on the old brass bugle.

An A Company trooper lying next to me shouted above the gunfire "That's B Company AWWWWWRRRRIGHT!"
Rescorla kept the bugle as a trophy until 1991 when he turned it over to the Ia Drang Valley Alumni Association which I believe has it to this day.

So here's to you, Rick Rescorla, you died doing what you did best; being a hero, a good natured hero who inspired others with his love of life and scorn for death.

####
​

Robert Poos is a former Marine combat veteran of Korea, an AP correspondent in Vietnam and a former managing editor of Soldier Of Fortune.

 

[Tangeloper]

Tears of State

She is crying, that great Lady of Liberty.
The deep wound in her soul bleeds.
Her hands are scratched as she rises.
Blood pours from her head mixing with
salty tears and dripping to the rough ground.
A crowd watches from a distance.
Some reach out a hand, a comforting word.
Heads wag and murmurs of shock float in the air.
Others laugh, dancing, 'It's time,' they say.
As she looks up, eyes flutter and flash;
sadness and surprise join hands with
anger, determination, and inner strength.
The robes of safety are torn, and
as she searches for the book of history,
she sees that it has opened to a new page.
There is fire and blackness, but as it turns
she sees that there is a hope for tomorrow.
The new chapter has only just begun.
The great torch has but a glimmer,
yet as her fingers grasp its worn handle,
the pain feeds the sputtering flame
until it blazes with a new urgency.
Her face turns upward, burning,
a beacon in the blackness reaching out
to gather her frightened children around her.
The blaze lights up the night meeting the sun
as it rises over an unwritten paragraph.
History is waiting to be born today.
Gone is the sleep of yesteryear.
Resolve hardens into polished steel.
The book is put aside; now in
Liberty's hand is the sword of judgment.
It has awakened in her heart
and as the mists clear, the writing begins
...in blood.

-- Christopher Fink

 

[Tangeloper]

I Saw An Eagle Cry !!!

Today I saw an eagle,
With a teardrop in his eye.

It literally took my breath away,
To see an eagle cry.

I asked him, What's the matter?,
And he told me what he saw.

A cowardly attack was made,
On the towers that once stood tall.

He said everything he stood for,
Had taken a shocking blow.

So he had to take a moment,
To let his own emotions show.

Then he proudly told me,
That our Nation would survive.

That our Liberty and Freedom,
He'd be sure to keep alive.

He said for us not to be afraid,
To stand together, not apart.

For a terrorist has succeeded,
If he puts fear within our hearts.

-- Author Unknown