2,996 casualties between New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania including the 19 hijackers. 66,077+ casualties in total when you add the casualties from the resulting war effort. And if you add the casualties in Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq? Untold millions. 1,182,934+ additional casualties. 1,249,011+ in total. Before you say "Yes, but the non-American deaths are okay! We had to get even with the bastards!", how many of those might be innocents? Women and children? And correct me if I'm wrong (I have a propensity to be wrong), but isn't all life precious? That's what I've always heard.
Never forget. Very powerful words. Never forget. I know I won't. Where were you? I was lying in bed, off from work that day. My son had crawled into bed with me to take a nap. My ex-stepdaughter came upstairs to inform my ex-wife and I that Tower One had been struck by an airplane. I turned on the television just in time to watch the next plane impact Tower 2. It was at that moment that I knew it was no "accident". That it was intentional. I spent the remainder of the day glued to my television, watching as America was seemingly thrown into fear and chaos with a great amount of ease. So where were you? What were you doing? Do you remember?
What I find so stupefying, yet amazing, is how many people have held on the their prattle about "inside job" and "conspiracy". Get over it, for God's sake! I was on Facebook the other day. A friend of mine had shared a status update by Ted Nugent. Apparently he has decided in his foaming, rabid, megalomaniac redneck wisdom that today, 9/11/2014, is the day that we are going to get attacked again. And he was catalyzing (more like inciting and brainwashing) some very sub-par intelligence individuals that we should all be armed to the teeth and shoot anything that moves wrong. Then go hide and do it again.
Ted Nugent, former guitarist and singer. A musician. Not even a good one. Not in my opinion. But he decided that a minimum of 22,338 people needed to be rabid enough to kill any Muslim on sight. And why? Because he didn't forget? Maybe he forgot his sanity. Or forgot what happens when a megalomaniac whips people into a frenzy. Anyway. This blog post is about remembering what happened, not about a rabid hillbilly.
I implore you, whatever you're doing today, take a moment and remember. Remember those who died. Remember the fallen. If you're with your kids and spouse, take a moment to be thankful. If you're out with friends tonight, take 30 seconds and toast a drink. Don't forget. Ever. And don't let them be forgotten. The worst feeling in the world is to be forgotten. Be it in life or death.
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