[From Denizenne Kat]
September 11, 2007 falls on a Tuesday this year. I have seen editorials for the last several years questioning our honoring of September 11. This year is no different. People wonder if we shouldn't be over the grief? If, by continuing to commemorate it, we can't heal as a nation?
I usually shrug off those comments. Mainly because we are still at war with the same people who struck our nation on that day. Until that war is over, September 11 will be the date, as Roosevelt once said, that will live in infamy for our generation. So long as men and women continue to take up the defense of our nation, to battle Islamic extremists in places all around the globe, the job is not done and September 11 cannot be allowed to fade away as if it was simply the date of a tragic accident. It will not fade away for those of us who believe we have unfinished business. It will never fade away for those who lost family and friends in the towers, at the Pentagon or in a field in Pennsylvania.
Soldiers' Angels Kansas City was at a small town event in Cleveland, Missouri on September 8 when we unexpectedly met a couple that reminded us that this anniversary was sadly approaching. Maybe you don't believe in God or Angels or miracles, but, we couldn't help but think that there was something special about being in a small town, far away from anywhere and, out of the blue, meet the parents of Ronald J. Hemenway, ET1, USN, KIA Pentagon September 11, 2001 only three days before that sad anniversary.
I was reminded strongly why we do what we do. On a day that some would like to forget or, at least, push into a dark, locked closet in the memory hole, an act of war was committed against our nation that took the lives of 2996 men, women and children. On that day, after many years of strikes against our nation and people, a major attack was perpetrated on American soil. It was the opening salvo in this long battle. It took the lives of innocent men, women and children. It took the lives of our first heroes that included firemen, police, ordinary people and some of our first military heroes.
Today, over 200,000 men and women are deployed in the war on terror and many more stand watch in nations near and far, defending our families, our country and our way of life. As the years go by and the war drags on, many would simply like it to be over. It isn't. That is just a fact of life. Likewise, there are many for whom even the defeat of our enemies will not bring closure. The Hemenways lost their son Ronald, but worse, his remains were never located. What is below his marker in Arlington National Cemetery is an empty coffin. They can never bring their son home.
On our Angel blog, I try to insure the message that we send is about inclusiveness because we have so many men and women who need our support. No one should be turned away, regardless of their political views. That stands, no matter my personal views.
But, meeting the Hemenways, I was reminded why we are at war and what true sacrifice means. Particularly when Mr and Mrs. Hemenway both broke down in tears and hugged us, thanking us over and over for supporting our troops. It was hard not to cry and still is as I type this. I've met presidential candidates, shook the hands of Medal of Honor recipients, received a commander's challenge coin, comforted the wounded, welcomed home troops, sent them off to war and sadly stood in cemeteries as taps played and families cried. The things that get me every time? When the mother's and father's of our people hug me and thank me for doing something that is so little and yet has such huge meaning to them and to our troops.
Those moments are etched in my heart and in my memory for all times.
As I spoke with the Hemenways, they said what I could not say, standing behind the Soldiers' Angels banner. We're a non-partisan, non-profit organization and I like it that way. The more people we can bring into the fold, the more our troops receive the love and support they deserve. But, the Hemenways wanted to tell people something more.
I've placed their message and personal observations in flash traffic.
The Hemenways believe this war has many battle fronts including Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa and East Asia. They do not differentiate.
They said, "Support the Troops, Support the Mission." They strongly believe that you cannot do one without the other. Mr. Hemenway said directly, "How can you say that you support the troops, but you hope they lose?"
That is the question that many must ask themselves. Something that I have no good answer to. I only know what I believe and that these are the same people who attacked us on 9/11, who we fight in Afghanistan, who are in Waziristan, Pakistan, who are supporting fanatical Islamic organizations, recruiting and planning attacks against us are in many places and lands. These same people hoisted the black flag of Islamic Fascism in Iraq and have proceeded to kill over a hundred thousand more innocent men, women and children. They make no distinction and they have no mercy. They made no distinction and had no mercy on September 11.
How did they get there? When? Some even make foolish claims that Al Qaeda is not in Iraq. After all, bin Laden and Zawahiri are somewhere in the Afghan/Pakistan borderlands. This person totally ignores that the terrorists in Iraq have pledged allegiance to bin Laden and Al Qaeda, publicly and been accepted as Al Qaeda just as publicly by both bin Laden and Zawahiri, via letters and video. Such bogus claims of non-existence are simply the acts of an ostrich praying that he does not have to raise his head and see.
My question, as it has been since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq and the subsequent political battles accompanying demands that we withdraw: why would we, why should we, regardless of how or when they arrived, abandon one iota of sand, one speck of dust, one inch of shade beneath a date palm, one sip of water from the Two Rivers, one free breath in the cradle of civilization or one Iraqi soul to the foul corruption of such evil men?
Not one person I have spoken to has convinced me that leaving there without finishing the fight, without stabilizing the nation, without handing a solid defeat to Al Qaeda or any other Islamist extremists, Shia or Sunni, will have a good outcome. I have had people tell me that there is no good outcome so we should simply cut our losses. That is a solid vote for defeat. Worse, it pessimistically insists that what we have to look forward to is more days like September 11, more empty graves with a simple marker and the very real possibility that we will return to Iraq to fight the enemy. But the next time, instead of surgical strikes and sparing the lives of civilians, where the enemy is the barbarian that slaughters the innocent, we will be forced to fight a much more terrible battle at a much higher price. We will move from an offensive posture to a defensive posture. We will limit the battle space to one front where they can concentrate their forces and resources at will.
It is not about "wrong war, right war". It never was because there is only one war now with many battle fronts. It has always been about the price we are willing to pay, who will pay that price and over what period of time we are willing to make that payment?
You see, to me, the people that advocate withdrawal from Iraq are the people who go to buy something on the installment plan and opt for lower payments over a longer period of time. Those are the folks that don't mind the purchase costing twice as much as it should have with the extended interest, so long as they do not have to feel the pain today. That may work when we are buying a car or a house. We may be willing to extend the payment to ease the daily pain.
But we aren't talking about a car or a house. We are talking about the future of our nation. We are talking about the future of our children and their children. We are talking about the children who live free today in many nations and those who still long to live free without tyranny or terror. Are we willing to sell that future for less pain today?
That is not to say that tyrants and terrorists will not exist if we stay and win in Iraq. It simply means that winning Iraq is one less place they can exist.
Would we be willing to invite these terrorists here and offer them food, shelter and undisturbed land from which to launch an attack? What state are we willing to give to them? How many people should we let them kill, injure or enslave?
I would not cede one iota of sand from Death Valley; not one speck of dust from plains, not one inch of shade from a Dogwood tree, not one sip of water from the Mississippi, not one free breath in the birth place of liberty nor one American soul to the foul corruption of such evil men.
I am not willing to give them that here and I am not willing to give them that in Iraq, nor Afghanistan, Djibouti, Algiers, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, nor Iran. Nor England, France, Germany or Spain. Nor any place near or far where they may rest, refit, re-organize, plan or carry out attacks. By stealth or by main force, I believe we should fight them wherever we find them until such a time as they and their fascist, tyrannical ideology no longer exists.
I don't believe this because it will stop an attack today or even tomorrow. We have already lived with the fear of an attack for six years. Many of our allies have suffered such attacks. It is the future, as far off and distant as it may seem, and the possibility, however remote, that we will live, once and for all, in peace. It was the fervent hope of our great-grandparents in WWI, our grandparents in WWII, our parents after Vietnam and it is our generation, our hope that this moves us ever closer to that day. A day when all those who long for peace, but equally long for freedom and the prosperity that follows, will know its taste and its joy.
Until then, we pick up the shield and a weapon. If we can't do that, we stand ready to work and support those who can and do.
I was reminded of this necessity in the little town of Cleveland, Missouri, not far from the Kansas border, by an elderly couple whose son was among the first to give that last full measure of devotion on a sunny day, September 11, 2001. I was reminded of this by Mrs. Hemenway who spoke many times about the simple marker in Arlington National Cemetery and the fact that the grave is empty because they never found her son's remains.
I was reminded of this by Mr. Hemenway who proudly spoke of his son's accomplishments and of the seventeen grandchildren he and his wife enjoy today. He hoped that these grandchildren would never know the fear and never experience the war. He hoped they would never know the pain of losing a son to war.
I was reminded of this as I stood on Main Street where Girl and Boy Scouts of America raised funds with cookies and hot dogs, a band played, the people danced and children of all ages walked up and down the street with their balloons and other treasures. It was a microcosm, a small reflection of the way of life that I would have us defend and protect for all those who would ask: free.
Before Mr. and Mrs. Hemenway parted company with us the final time, I asked them if they would like to send a special message to our troops. They consented:
Please do not forget the men and women who are still fighting for us today. Soldiers' Angels needs you even more today to help us continue to support our troops. Join us at soldiersangels.org.
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