9/11 speech by President George W Bush
“Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes, or in their offices; secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers; moms and dads, friends and neighbours. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.
The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.
A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.
Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America — with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbours who came to give blood and help in any way they could.
Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington, D.C. to help with local rescue efforts.
Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured, and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.
The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel tonight, and will be open for business tomorrow. Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business, as well.
The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. I’ve directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbour them.
I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance.
America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”
This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.”
http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/George_W_Bush/
September 11th- now named: “Patriot Day”.
Patriot is defined as: one who loves and defends his or her country and one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests. Abraham Lincoln said: “Gold is good in its place, but living, brave, patriotic men are better than gold.”
“The American’s Creed”
by William Tyler Page
I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.
–Written 1917, accepted by the United States House of Representatives on April 3, 1918.
CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ/SIGN LETTER TO PRESIDENT ON HIS USING CIVILIAN COURT SYSTEM IN NYC TO PROSECUTE 9/11 CONSPIRATORS:
http://www.thebravest.com/ObamaLetter110909.htm
“PROJECT 2996″ http://project2996.wordpress.com/ – remember the victims of 9/11 – the people who went to work and did not come home. http://www.legacy.com/Sept11/Home.aspx
CARL FLICKINGER:
Thoughtful husband and father, golf enthusiast
Carl Flickinger considered his work hours at Cantor Fitzgerald to be one of the job’s biggest benefits. Though he started at 7 a.m., he was home by 6:30 p.m. with his family in Congers in Rockland County.
Mr. Flickinger, 38, slid comfortably into domestic routines. Every Saturday, he shopped for groceries before taking his 11-year-old twin sons to the mall for new sneakers or jeans. In the evening, he checked his sons’ homework and read to his 5-year-old daughter. On and off the job, he drove himself. He would not just play an easy 18 holes of golf; he took lessons and practiced on the driving range.
Mr. Flickinger was a gadget guy, said his wife, Kathy, and he liked to buy the latest nifty devices as gifts for friends.
Every morning before his commute, he bought coffee at the Dairy Mart and left it for his wife. And at 11 a.m., he always called home. “Just to touch base,” she said. “Just to tell me how his morning was going.” http://inmemoriamonline.net/Profiles/Folders/F_Folder/Flickinger_Carl.html
Links:
Legacy Guest Book: http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=96911
http://bobmcdonald.ba.ttu.edu/Home%20Page/world_trade_center_page.htm
http://terroristattack.com/messages.php?id=942
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/people/1983.html
http://www.9-11heroes.us/v/Carl_Flickinger.php
http://remember911.albertarose.org/wtc9.htm
“You have never met me…..
I am the stranger everywhere…
Sitting next to you on the subway…..
Selling newspapers on the street…
Begging for change on the corner…
Gazing out of a corporate building…
Playing in the park…
Driving your taxi…
Babysitting your kids…
Creating the laws…
But always, always
Loving you unconditionally.
You don’t need to know me
To know that you are loved.
All the pain you feel
You are never truly alone.
My prayers are with you
Your heart will heal
The sun will shine
and your loved ones
will reach
Their places with God.
Love, always,
Kelly Nicole”
(above poem/letter-from book: “Do not be sad. A Chronicle of Healing. Children’s letters and artwork sent after 9/11 from across America to Engine 24 Ladder 5 FDNY” ISBN#: 0-941807-80-0)
Elena Ledesma
“A Family’s ‘Source of Light’
Elena Ledesma was the heart and soul of her extended family. On camping trips, she was the first to pitch the tents. She was the one who administered insulin to her 66-year- old diabetic mother and took her to the doctor. She was raising two daughters and working full time.
Ms. Ledesma, who was 37, worked at the World Trade Center as a maintenance coordinator at Marsh & McLennan. She was responsible for maintenance on Floors 93 to 99. The divorced mother of a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old, she lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Her mother, aunts and cousins all lived in the same building.
“My sister was a giving person,” said Nelson Hernandez, her older brother. “She was always the one we turned to for anything. I had a lot of dreams. We were going to buy a house together for our mother.”
Belkis Mercedes, a friend, said she believed that many family members still expected Ms. Ledesma to reappear. “She was their source of light,” Ms. Mercedes said. ”
(Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 6, 2001.) http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/07/national/portraits/POGF-158-8LEDESMA.html
http://www.legacy.com/Sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=113377
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/people/4149.html
http://memorial.mmc.com/pgBio.asp?ID=155
http://www.9-11heroes.us/v/Elena_Ledesma.php
Karleton D.B. Fyfe
Karleton Fyfe’s mother had to be bedridden for the six months before he was born; he seemed to be in a hurry to get into the world.
There was so much to be excited about. Take the birth of his own son. He and his wife made it a group project. They sent family and close friends a video titled “It’s a. . . .” showing them going for the sonogram and at the end opening an envelope in which the doctor had written “boy.” When Jackson turned 1, they asked the same group to write something and seal it for him to open when he turned 18. 
Then, because Mr. Fyfe heard that the terrible 2’s were caused by frustration at not being able to communicate, he taught his son sign language. “He was really living it,” said Tristin Laughter a longtime friend of the couple.
Mr. Fyfe, 31, really lived everything, applying the same boyishness and determination whether he was mastering Steve Martin routines or the curveball as a kid, or tackling projects as a senior analyst at John Hancock — the job for which he was traveling on American Airlines Flight 11.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 31, 2001.
Karleton Fyfe’s mother called his Brookline, Mass., home on Tuesday morning. She had seen the news of burning buildings and wanted to make sure her only son was not inside his 56th floor office in Boston.
He wasn’t, Fyfe’s wife, Haven, assured her mother-in-law. He was on an airplane.
Fyfe, a 31-year-old John Hancock employee and father of 1-year-old Jackson, was aboard American Airlines 11. The trip was for business.
Kansas City Star columnist Bill Tammeus had written almost all of his column–about the bombing–before he learned that Fyfe, his nephew, was a victim. “He’s the kind of kid that if there was anything that could have been done on that plane to help, he would have done it,” said Tammeus, who grew up in Woodstock.
Profile courtesy of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE. http://www.legacy.com/Sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=91795
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/people/1380.html
American Airlines, Flight 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_11
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/11/never-forget-american-airlines-flight-11-2/
http://terroristattack.com/messages.php?id=989
http://www.9-11heroes.us/v/Karleton_DB_Fyfe.php
http://www.meme-pops.com/wtc/AAF11.htm
“FREE”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1P8tTf-GXM
and She called…
Blacks, Whites…wait
African Americans and Caucasians, Asians, excuse me.
Vietnamese, Philippines, Koreans and Jamaicans or
Haitians, waitin’, Hispanics, y’all.
Army Sergeant First Class Paul Smith M.O.H.
I beg your pardon, you partied with the late, great Reagan?
Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunni Muslim, Brothers and Sisters who never seen the New York city
skyline when the twin towers still existed.
But still She called.
From the bowels of Ground Zero she sent this 911 distress signal.Because She was in desperate need of a hero,
and didn’t have time to decipher what to call ‘em,
so she called ‘em all Her children.
The children of the stars and bars who needed to know nothing more than the fact that she called.The fact that someone attempted to harm us
this daughter who covered us all with her loving arms.
And now these arms are sprawled across New York City streets.
A smoke filled lung, a silt covered faced,
and a solitary tear poured out of her cheek.
Her singed garments carpets Pennsylvania Avenue and the Pentagon was under her feet.
As she began to talk, she began to cough up small particles of debris
and said, “I am America, and I’m calling on the land of the free.”
So they answered.All personal differences set to the side
because right now there was no time to decide which state building the Confederate flag should fly over,
and which trimester the embryo is considered alive,
or on our monetary units, and which God we should confide.
You see, someone attempted to choke the voice
of the one who gave us the right for choice,
and now she was callin’.
And somebody had to answer.
Who was going to answer?So they did.
Stern faces and chiseled chins.
Devoted women and disciplined men,
who rose from the ashes like a Phoenix
and said “don’t worry, we’ll stand in your defense.”
They tightened up their bootlaces
and said goodbye to loved ones, family and friends.
They tried to bombard them with the “hold on”, “wait-a-minute’s”, and “what-ifs”.
And “Daddy, where you goin’?”.
And, “Mommy, why you leavin’?”.
And they merely kissed them on their foreheads and said “Don’t worry, I have my reasons.
You see, to this country I pledged my allegiance
to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.
So as long as I’m breathin’, I’ll run though hell-fire,
meet the enemy on the front lines,
look him directly in his face,
stare directly in his eyes and scream,
“I AM AMERICA! WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!
I’LL FIGHT YOU ANY COUNTRY, ANY CONTINENT, ANY TERRAIN.
I’LL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH!” And if by chance death is my fate,
pin my medals upon my chest,
and throw Old Glory on my grave.
But, don’t y’all cry for me.
You see, my Father’s prepared a place.
I’ll be a part of his Holy army standing a watch at the Pearly Gates.
Because freedom was never free.
POW’s, and fallen soldiers
all paid the ultimate sacrifice
along side veterans who put themselves in harms way.
Risking their lives and limbs just to hold up democracy’s weight,
Cpl. Paulo Marko Pacificador
but still standing on them broken appendages anytime the National Anthem was played.
You see, these were the brave warriors that gave me the right
to say that I’m Black. Or white.
Or
African American or Caucasian,
I’m Asian, excuse me.
I’m Vietnamese, Philippine, Korean, or Jamaican.
I’m Haitian, Hispanic
Y’all, Please be patient.
I’m Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Cuban,
Dominican, Panamanian, Democrat
Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, M.O.H.
I beg your pardon, you see I partied with the late, great Reagan.
I’m Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunni Muslim,
Brothers and Sisters We’re just Americans.
So with that I say
“Thank You” to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
for preserving my rights
to live and die for this life
and paying the ultimate price for me to be…FREE!
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/media/tribute/tribute.html
This link will take the reader to “Ground Zero” photographs: http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/wtc_other/ground_zero/1005_57.shtml
PROJECT REBIRTH:
http://www.projectrebirth.org/
This link will take the reader to the 2006 report: “Addressing the health impacts of 9/11/01” http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/911_health_impacts_report.pdf
“American Experience”–”The Center of the World” is a series of t.v. shows documenting the World Trade Center from vision to reality to it’s attack on 9/11/01. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/sfeature/sf_int_pop_04_01_tr_qry.html
Here is a link to a site that contains pictures and news articles on: “September 11, 2001-A Day the World Changed.” http://www.september11news.com/
FDNY Memorial and pictures of Ground Zero for 9/11/01
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/media/tribute/tribute.html
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/daniels-charlie/the-last-fallen-hero-10974.html
“The Last Fallen Hero”
Charlie Daniels album: Freedom and Justice for All
Oh, the cowards came by morning and attacked without a warning
Leaving flames and death and chaos in our streets
In the middle of this fiery hell brave heroes fell
In the skies of Pennsylvania on a plane bound for destruction
With the devil and his angels at the wheel
They never reached their target on the ground
Brave heroes brought it down
Chorus:
This is a righteous cause so without doubt or pause
I will do what my country asks of me
Make any sacrifice
We’ll pay whatever price
So the children of tomorrow can be free
Lead on red, white and blue
And we will follow you until we win the final victory
God help us do our best we will not slack or rest
Till the last fallen hero rests in peace
Now the winds of war are blowing and there’s no way of knowing
Where this bloody path we’re traveling will lead
We must follow till the end
Or face it all again
And make no mistake about it, write it, preach it, talk it, shout it
Across the mountains and the deserts and the seas
The blood of innocence and shame
Will not be shed in vain
Chorus
God help us do our best we will not slack nor rest
Till the last fallen hero rests in peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY00LmtUlqQ
Budweiser tribute to NYC/9/11 commercial that aired once:
youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqLajmXJH5k
Here is a youtube video of of another artist’s gift /tribute to those who gave all and those who give much every day:
youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZFkZiwMLZ4
FIRE FIGHTER’S PRAYER
When I’m called to duty God wherever flames may rage
grant me the strength to save a life whatever be its age
Help me to embrace a little child before it is too late
or save an older person from the horror of that fate
Enable me to be alert to hear the weakest shout
and quickly and efficiently put the fire out
I want to fill my calling Lord and give the best in me
to guard my every neighbor and protect his property
And if according to your will I am to lose my life
God bless with your protecting hand my children and my wife
Racicot’s ice sculpture: “From Fire to Ice
”http://www.firehouse.com/news/2002/2/0223-1lg.jpg
“Always remember, Never Forget the sacrifice of 346 FDNY Brothers”:
Kevin Smith
Born to Serve
“Firefighter Kevin Smith spent almost 20 years preparing for Sept. 11. When he called his wife, Jerri, that morning, his voice trembled with excitement, not fear.
“He was saying, `All my work during all those years and now here it is,’ ” Mrs. Smith said.
In the early 1980’s, Firefighter Smith, 47, became a charter member of the Fire Department’s hazardous materials unit. Then, after the first trade center bombing, in 1993, he was detailed to the mayor’s Office of Emergency Management.
He took on the most dangerous aspect of a most dangerous occupation because that was the kind of thing he had always done. “He just had this desire to serve,” said his sister Catherine. “And he loved being in a uniform.” He was a Boy Scout. Then a marine. He joined the volunteer fire department in Mastic, on Long Island, where he lived, and there met Mrs. Smith, an ambulance volunteer.
When they married, both brought children, eight in all, from earlier marriages. Each one inherited the same steely notion of service. One now is a sailor. One a marine. Two daughters are taking the police exam. And one son, Brian, who was a Fire Department emergency medical service officer on 9/11, was there, and survived, when the towers fell on his father.
“Sometimes, in my own self-pity, I sit and say, `How much can one family give?’ “Mrs. Smith said. She said she had been tempted to tell the world to leave them alone. But then she thinks of Firefighter Smith, so quietly devoted to family and work. “And there comes the pride,” she said, “of knowing we are all still following him.”
(Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on March 8, 2003.)”
http://www.legacy.com/Sept11/Story.aspx?PersonID=147530
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/people/2381.html
http://www.sconfire.com/FDNY-Memorial.htm
http://www.9-11-01remembertheheroes.com/photo_page_6.htm
http://www.sconfire.com/FDNY-Memorial.htm
9-11 NEVER FORGET MEMORIAL: “BLOOD OF HEROES“
http://www.fdnylodd.com/9-11-Never-Forget/Memorials/Blood-Of-Heroes.html
“Care and compensation in short supply for ailing and troubled 9/11 workers”
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=5665.0
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-liheal0910,0,4449343.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines (Newsday link in archives)
History Channel 9-11-01 “One day changes everything”
http://www.history.com/states.do?parentId=9-11
http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20010916phonecallnat3p3.asp
Todd Beamer dad to 2 young sons then 3 and 1-years-old, on his last call out from Flight 93 asked the operator to call his family, pray with him and they recited the 23rd psalm together, before Todd and others on the plane counter attacked the hijackers.
The LORD Is My Shepherd
23The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green [1] pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest [2] my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Beamer
http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Roll-Ordinary-Extraordinary-Courage/dp/0842373195
“HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?”
youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-x9kMPauc
Lyrics:
I hear people saying we don’t need this war
I say there’s some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground?
We didn’t get to keep ‘em by backing down
They say we don’t realize the mess we’re getting in
Before you start preaching
Let me ask you this my friend
CHORUS 1
Have you forgotten how it felt that day
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside
Going through a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it’s too disturbing for you and me
It’ll just breed anger that’s what the experts say
If it was up to me I’d show it every day
Some say this country’s just out looking for a fight
After 9/11 man I’d have to say that’s right
CHORUS 1
Have you forgotten how it felt that day
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away?
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside
Going through a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
I’ve been there with the soldiers
Who’ve gone away to war
And you can bet they remember
Just what they’re fighting for
CHORUS 2
Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost
And those left to carry on
Don’t you tell me not to worry about Bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
Darryl Worley/Wynn Varble, 2003
September 11th, an American flag should be displayed outside every home (everyday), apartment, office, and store in the United States. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this anniversary of our country’s worst tragedy.
We do this in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.
In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn’t take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.
LIGHTS ON…..9/11
Please join us on 9/11 all across this great land we love and call the United States of America.
September 11 everyone in the USA who will be driving a motor vehicle is asked to drive with their headlights on during daylight hours.
Though no explanation is needed as to why we are commemorating September 11, we hope more importantly to pay respect to the victims of that day, show our nation’s solidarity and show support for our men and women of the Armed Forces.
USS NewYork LPD – 21
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_York_(LPD-21)
http://www.ussnewyork.com/ussny_history.html
As you scroll down, notice the two twin towers on top 
Here SHE is, the USS New York, made from the World
Trade Center !
USS
New York
It was built with 24 tons of
scrap steel from the
World
Trade
Center .
It is the fifth in a new class of warship –
designed for missions that include special
operations against terrorists. It will carry a
crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines
to be delivered ashore by helicopters and
assault craft.
Steel
from the
World
Trade
Center was melted
down in a foundry in
Amite , LA to
cast the ship’s bow section. When it was poured
into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, ‘those big rough
steelworkers treated it with total reverence,’
recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there.
‘It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.’
Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that
when the trade center steel first arrived, he
touched it with his hand and the ‘hair on my
neck stood up.’ ‘It had a big meaning to it for
all of us,’ he said. ‘They knocked us down. They
can’t keep us down. We’re going to be
back.’
The
ship’s motto?
‘Never Forget’
Please keep
this going so everyone can see what we are made
of in this country!
George W. Bush
Remarks at the National Day of Prayer & Remembrance
delivered 14 September 2001, Episcopal National Cathedral
We are here in the middle hour of our grief. So many have suffered so great a loss, and today we express our nation’s sorrow. We come before God to pray for the missing and the dead, and for those who loved them. On Tuesday, our country was attacked with deliberate and massive cruelty. We have seen the images of fire and ashes and bent steel.
Now come the names, the list of casualties we are only beginning to read: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/
They are the names of men and women who began their day at a desk or in an airport, busy with life.
They are the names of people who faced death and in their last moments called home to say, be brave and I love you.
They are the names of passengers who defied their murderers and prevented the murder of others on the ground.
They are the names of men and women who wore the uniform of the United States and died at their posts.
They are the names of rescuers — the ones whom death found running up the stairs and into the fires to help others.
We will read all these names. We will linger over them and learn their stories, and many Americans will weep.
To the children and parents and spouses and families and friends of the lost, we offer the deepest sympathy of the nation. And I assure you, you are not alone. Just three days removed from these events, Americans do not yet have the distance of history, but our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil.
War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others; it will end in a way and at an hour of our choosing. Our purpose as a nation is firm, yet our wounds as a people are recent and unhealed and lead us to pray. In many of our prayers this week, there’s a searching and an honesty. At St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, on Tuesday, a woman said, “I pray to God to give us a sign that He’s still here.”
Others have prayed for the same, searching hospital to hospital, carrying pictures of those still missing. God’s signs are not always the ones we look for. We learn in tragedy that His purposes are not always our own, yet the prayers of private suffering, whether in our homes or in this great cathedral are known and heard and understood. There are prayers that help us last through the day or endure the night. There are prayers of friends and strangers that give us strength for the journey, and there are prayers that yield our will to a Will greater than our own.
This world He created is of moral design. Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance and love have no end, and the Lord of life holds all who die and all who mourn.
It is said that adversity introduces us to ourselves. This is true of a nation as well. In this trial, we have been reminded and the world has seen that our fellow Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and brave.
We see our national character in rescuers working past exhaustion, in long lines of blood donors, in thousands of citizens who have asked to work and serve in any way possible.
And we have seen our national character in eloquent acts of sacrifice:
Inside the World Trade Center, one man who could have saved himself stayed until the end and at the side of his quadriplegic friend.
A beloved priest died giving the last rites to a firefighter.
Two office workers, finding a disabled stranger, carried her down 68 floors to safety.
A group of men drove through the night from Dallas to Washington to bring skin grafts for burned victims.
In these acts and many others, Americans showed a deep commitment to one another and an abiding love for our country.
Today, we feel what Franklin Roosevelt called, “the warm courage of national unity.” This is a unity of every faith and every background. It has joined together political parties and both houses of Congress. It is evident in services of prayer and candlelight vigils and American flags, which are displayed in pride and waved in defiance. Our unity is a kinship of grief and a steadfast resolve to prevail against our enemies. And this unity against terror is now extending across the world.
America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for, but we are not spared from suffering. In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom. They have attacked America because we are freedom’s home and defender, and the commitment of our Fathers is now the calling of our time.
On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask Almighty God to watch over our nation and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come.
As we’ve been assured, neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth can separate us from God’s love.¹ May He bless the souls of the departed. May He comfort our own. And may He always guide our country.
God bless America.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911prayer&memorialaddress.htm
“9/11 A decade later, Long Island remembers” http://longisland.newsday.com/911-anniversary/
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/05/ap-osama-bin-laden-dead-050111/
Now I lay me down to sleep…one less terrorist this world does keep…with all my heart I give my thanks…to those in uniform regardless of ranks…you serve our country and serve it well…with humble hearts your stories tell…so as I rest my weary eyes…while freedom rings our flag still flies…you give your all, do what you must…with God we live and God we trust….Amen
“Peace will come when ‘they’ love their children more than they hate us.” Golda Meir
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