9/11
Posted: September 11, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: 9/11 18 Comments“When I look out the window, I exhale a prayer of thanks for the color green, for my children’s safety, for the simple acts of faith like planting a garden that helped see us through another spring, another summer. And I inhale some kind of promise to protect my kids’ hopes and good intentions we began with in this country. Freedom of speech, the protection of diversity — these are the most important ingredients of American civil life and my own survival. If I ever took them for granted, I don’t know.” –
Sometime today take a few moments to look at this link:
CultFit 
That is one powerful link.
I’m not one to lament in a nauseating fashion about where I was or what I was doing on 9/11. Needless to say I have a few mates in that database. I painfully wish they were not there …
It was weird how I learned about it. Opened the TV, watched news, saw explosions, a person with a hanky waving out the window and my body was immediately tensed up. Didn’t know it was happening in the States until minutes later.
I could have had friends from those two buildings but they’re gone now and I’ll never get to know them.
Thank you for sharing your touching story.
I kept scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. That’s the side of war they like to keep well hidden. Thank you for posting that.
Very true and sadly the link I shared is only for OEF fatalities and not OIF:
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/Fatalities.aspx
This website is very humbling to say the least.
Thank you
My husband was a grunt with the USMC, he’s been to Iraq once and Afghan twice – and I THANK GOD everyday that he’s home safe and out of the Marine Corps.
That link makes me ill. My body gave involuntary shudders just looking at. It’s important, and I wish more Americans realized some of the cold, hard truths about what’s going on. But I can’t look at that link, I don’t need to. I just look in my husband’s eyes and I know all I need to about what goes on over there.
Gob Bless the USA.
First I would like to thank both you and your husband for serving our country. Spouses play a critical role back home while we are deployed.
I shared the link primarily because I feel we have become numb to the horrors of war as a society. I left too many friends over there and everyday I think about them.
I certainly agree with you… it’s way too easy for the average American to push such ugly realities away from their daily consciousness – but we can’t. It’s not right to those who sacrifice so much.
Thanks for your kind words. It was an honor to be able to support him in that ways I have.
Thanks for this post. My younger brother joined the marines because of 9/11. He was one of the first infantry divisions that went into Fallujah. Most of his platoon was killed. He was honorably discharged due to his injuries, he was in multiple bomb blasts, so many that his brain was shaken terribly and he can’t maintain balance well now or run. He has shrapnel bits all over his body that they didn’t remove because they healed over while he was in the service. As you can imagine the emotional scars are more severe than the physical ones.
Thanks for posting this and remembering all the servicemen who perished as well.
I wish your brother the best and when you speak to him again: Please let him know that a stranger thanks him for his service. The link I posted is so immensely powerful and terrifying to look at. I don’t know what to say, its just so very hard to put into words.
It is terrifying. It shakes me to my core.
I hear you. I remember not being able to watch the news while he was deployed, there was always some mention of another soldier whose life had been cut short. I couldn’t bear it.
I still get teary sometimes when I see men and women in uniform. I think there’s not enough respect for our service men and women.
I’ll pass on your thanks. I really appreciate it.
Oh yeah, I could never watch the news during deployment… it was the worst. Especially when communication was spotty and we’d go so long between phone calls. The news would just plant awful fears into my head, I avoided it at all costs.
Super scary.
Hate to be selfish, but I’m really grateful that he’s been honorably discharged. One man can only do so much.
I hear ya! My hubs EAS’ed a few months ago and we’re both very glad to be living as a civilian family now and not having to worry about will he lose life or limb in some thirdworldshithole.
I have been to a few ceremonies like this. It is heart wrenching. It makes me incredibly sad just writing this. Not more than I can say. Saying thank you to our service members does not seem enough, but it is something.