Heroes

It's raining softly here this morning; and it sprinkled most of yesterday evening and last night, too.  At least we aren't getting the inundations that folks have had to put up with from Irene and Lee!  Remy and Rosie positively hate walking in the rain and are very hard to dry off, so today's walk is cancelled. We can definitely use this light rain, but I also wish it would fall over the 85+ wildfires that are burning in Texas! - They need it much worse than we do.

I'm in a "preaching" mood this morning, so I thought I 'd just let it all spill out.....
We are, of course, nearing the eleventh of September, and terrible things happened in our country that day.  We, and other countries, lost innocent lives ten years ago to Islamic terrorists who were identified as being followers of Osama bin Laden, the leader of a group called al-Qaeda.  Very few people who were politically aware, or who were caught up in the events of that day will ever forget it.  It was horrifying.  My husband and I were attending a court proceeding that day in Manassas, Virginia; so I was lucky not to be at work in downtown Washington, D.C.   People wandering in and out of the court room were the ones who brought the news of the World Trade Center towers.  Those of us in the courtroom couldn't believe it.  Once we had testified, and were excused from court, my husband and I went to the car and immediately turned on the radio.  Our favorite classical station had been taken over by their sister-station, an all-news, all the time, station on the outskirts of Washington.  At that time, we heard of the collapse of both towers, the other two missing planes, and, it was being reported, that the Washington Mall had been bombed and was on fire.  We went home and sat down in front of CNN on the TV.  I did not personally know anyone who died on September 11 - but I know a lot of people who lost friends and family who were on board the planes, or were in buildings that were struck or damaged.  It was an appalling loss of life.  And it made a lot of people very angry, while it made others extremely sad.  I grieve for all of the people whose lives were lost during September 11th, or from their wounds and hurts that were incurred trying to save others on that day.  There were 2,996 deaths that occurred on 9/11, and more than 900 related deaths (fire fighters, police, and medical workers) have followed.  Again, I am grieved for this loss of life, and I feel for those who lost loved ones.  

On September 17, 1862, two armies met near a town named Sharpsburg, Maryland, which was near Antietam Creek.   The Union Army was led by George B. McClelland, while the Confederate Army was led by Robert E. Lee.   It was a devastating day for both the North and the South.  Americans were fighting Americans, cousins and brothers were shooting at each other.  After the fighting had ended at Sharpsburg, there were 3,654 dead.  There were 17,292 wounded casualties.  Reported missing, and presumed captured, were 1,771 men.  Some members of my family, and members of my husband's family, died that day.  I grieve for them, also.

Whether we are remembering every-day people who lost their lives without prior knowledge of a "war" being declared, or whether we are praising those who actually signed up for war duties, we should always remember them, and salute them, with thanks, blessings and grief.  Whether they died ten years ago, on September 11th, or whether they died 149 years ago at Sharpsburg/Antietam, or at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, these people gave their lives for us to be free Americans.  I am very grateful.  I am humbled by their sacrifice. 

Both of those days were tremendously awful days. I understand that "9/11" occurred only ten years ago.  I know that people know exactly where they were when they heard the news of the planes hitting the Twin Towers.  I know that America has felt itself to be invincible, and that attacking our country, in our country, was what made September 11th so horrifying.  -  I am not going to turn my television set on until it's time for football this Sunday.  Why?  Because I do not wish to see all the regurgitated news about that sad day.  I saw enough of the news to last a lifetime during that first week, and on each anniversary since.  -  What about the numbers of soldiers who died in all the preceding wars?  What about the human experiments conducted on the Jewish people by the Nazis?  Why do we not have National Days of Remembrance for all of the atrocities that have occurred since the world began?  Why? - Because then we would be remembering the dead every single day of the year. 

Humans are animals.  They are much worse than normal, wild animals, since they can "think."  Those who have fallen are, in my books, heroes...  and I thank them and grieve for them each and every day. - Not just on September 11.