Are You Prepared to Die?
How about those great kids of yours?
The two things I think I'll remember forever out of watching the memorial service on TV at 12 EST, were the children and the old people.
The boys (and girls) choir that sang had kids not much older than my 6 year old. I'm having to tell him now that our world is a very dangerous place to live. He asks if terrorism (the bombs, the death) could happen in our town. Honestly, I want to lie and tell him no, and I try to rationalize it, but the sad truth is YES. If we engage in this war millions of people will die and American will no longer be the home of the free, only the brave. His innocence and the innocence of all those poor kids have been ripped from them. He now has to realize at a very young age that the world is an ugly dangerous place. These were lessons my parents didn't have to teach me until I was in my teens. And I'm very angry about that.
The other sight I'll remember forever was the looks on the faces of people over 70. They lived in the last great World War and sincerely hoped we would never have to face something of this magnitude in our lifetime. They are shocked that we would be attacked on our own soil. And yet, I feel that this is just the beginning. We have failed to put good airport/airline security in place (like Israel) and it will simply be a matter of weeks before we have another kamikaze commercial flight. If the terrorists can't hijack airline flights, then they'll try air freight, or even private planes loaded with explosives. Our freedoms are completely and totally under attack here, but the only response we can have is to voluntarily live with more resticted freedoms until terrorists decide it is futile to attack us. That is why WE are the target, and Israel is NOT. They have done their homework.
Be prepared to have kids die as schools, churches, big buildings, and even our water and transportation infrastructure is attacked.
My answer. Yes, I'm prepared to die. If I have to, I'll fly to Afghanistan, learn how to live as a Marine, and kill Arabs in large numbers if I have to, just to spare the lives of my 3 precious children. But, I don't want to sit here like an idiot and watch mommys and daddys and kids die by the thousands here in America. We haven't lived in that kind of uncertainty in over 100 years. (If you don't count Pearl Harbor and WW II.)
But remember also, the Afghanis love their children, too.
Glen Austin
