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Two thousand one, nine eleven
Five thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousnads more appear and wait.
A bearded man with a stovepipe hat,
Steps forward saying, "Let's sit, let's chat."
They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did.
The newcomer said "Your dream still lives."
Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki and green, then say
"We're from Bullrun, Yourktown, and Maine."
The newcomer siad, "You've died not in vain."
From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear."
The newcomer said, "We know the rest.
Trust us sir, we've passed that test."
"Courage doesn't hide in caves.
You can't burry freedom in a grave."
The newcommers had heard this voice before,
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores.
A silence fell withing the mist
Somehow the newcommer knew
That this meant time had come for her to say,
What was in the hearts of the 5000 plus that day.
"Back on earth we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports,
Worked our gardens, sang our songs,
Went to church, and clipped cupons.
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought.
Unlike you, great we're not.
The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see.
You died for freedom, just like me."
Then before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams.
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must.
Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone.
Look! Blackman, whiteman, brownman, yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!
"So!" said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares can be born a dream."
Down below three firemen raises
The colors high into ashen haze.
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '44.
The man on sticks studied everything closely.
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly.
"I see pain, I see tears, I see sorrow,
But I don't see fear.
You left behind husbands and wives,
Daughters and sons, and so many lives.
are suffering now because of this wrong.
But look very closely, you're not really gone.
All of those people, even those who've never met you,
All of their lives, they'll never forget you.
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together,
Together as one."
With that the man in the stovepipe hat
Said, "Take my hand." and from there
He led 5000 plus heroes, newcommers to heaven
On this day two thousand one, nine eleven.
An open letter to terrorists and those who harbor and support you - from and American grandfather.
I am told by the leaders of my govornment that you are intelligent people. In light of your actions, I am having growing difficulty believing that. At the very least it has become increasingly obvious that you lack a
fundamental comprehension of my phsycology as an American. I hear on our news brodcasts that your rage is fueled by my support of Israel. It has never been about nationality or religious faith - never about Jews vs. Arab. I thought you would finally have understood that when I sent my children into harms way in order to protect the innocent citizens of Arab Kuwait from the savage wolf who would devour them for his own gain. It has everything to do with the lessons tought to me by my father - and his before him for many generations before the white man came to this land we call America. I have a vivid memory of comming home, as a boy of about 9 years of age, and telling my father of feeling helpless horror as I watched the neighborhood bully unmercifully toment another boy even smaller than I. My father reflected for a long moment, then quetly inquired of me as to what I had done about it. I said that I had watched until it was over and then I hadd come home. The look in his eyes penetrated me to the core for he had never looked at me that way before. He said he was deeply ashamed of me and he sent me to my room with instructions to think about what had happened. It seemed hours before he came to my door. He sat beside me on my bed, and for a painfully long while, he said nothing. When he finally spoke, he explained, "There will always be among us dishonerable men who are devoid of humanity and compassion. They are but naked animals and an empty shell of what truly is a man. They attempt to fill their happiness by the exercise of power over others, thinking that it makes them whole men. Often they are enraged that they do not even understand their own emptiness, what it is they lack. These men are also cowards, they disguise themselves as sheep amongst the flock and attack from the shadows. This is the vilest form of sub-human behavor, for even animals attack openly when they must attack. When humanity and integrity are present in a man, he expreses them as compassion. When compassion and strenght acheive perfect balance in a man, they manifest as wisdom. The compasionate man feels the pain of others. The wise man protects others from pain. For if you watch and do nothing to protect others, who will come to your aid when you alone remain and the bully comes for you? Some things are far more important than your personal safety and freedom from pain. If ever again you see someone being hurt, protect him, even if you are certain to be injured in the process. Then I will know that I have truly raised a man." Anyone who understands the impact of this lesson - and how deeply it runs in the man I have become, will understand my unflinching willingness to sacrifice my sons in defense of Arab and Jew alike when they are threatened by the bullies and cowards of the world. And please do not insult my inteligence with claims of Jewish treatment of Palestinians. I am old enough to retain vivid memories of 1948. I remember the excitement of the Jews over the prospect of govorning "with" them.
Their reaction, and that of their neighbors, was to attempt to finish what the Nazis could not - repeatedly inteligent men? I for one am stunned by the monumental stupididty of your arrogance. Did you actually think that only Americans would occupy the World Trade Center? You have but fired the first pitiful slavo of World War III for the entire world is now preparing to come after you, your host, your financers, and your supporters. And please, do not listen to wahat I say. You would do far better to watch the sky. I must say that I owe you a profound debt of gratitude. Not for what you have done of for what you have unleashed upon the world, but for what you have accomplised. For not one among us could have accomplished it. On Monday, Sept. 10, we were a divisible, apathetic nation. Our young people had nothing by witch to identify with our nation and our heritage; our people were divided by factions of religion and skin color; our govornment was polarized and parylized by political party affiliation, unable to agree upon nothing; the military had difficulty obtaining volunteers and we simply changed TV chanels in response to Red Cross pleas for blood donations. Your actions have changed all that in a way hat has occured only twice before in the history of this nation - once in 1776 and again on December 7, 1941. The worst in the worst of Allah's children has brought out the best of the best in Allah's children and, for this, I thank you. Since your act, Muslim, Jew, Christian, black, white, yellow, and brown have stood shoulder to shoulder for hours in the hot sun to donate blood for the injured. Our govornment has suddenly become totally united in its purpose. Our military is having dificulty handlin the flood of volunteers from among our young people. Our flag makers report that there is no way humanly possible that they can keep up with the demand - shipments are sold out within minutes. You have accomplished a miricle that only god could have anticipated. And, it would seem, the hand of God was present even in the date you selected for your attack, for you could not have chosen a date more in keeping with a reawakening of American pride and purpose. There is in America a nation wide system of seeking help in time of an emergency. Every American knows, that when threatened, he can pick up a telephone and dial 911 and help is imediately on the way to assist and protect him. By selecting September (our 9th month), 11, 2001 to exibit your cowardice, you unwittingly placed a 911 call that has brought all of America together in a way that brings tears of joy and pride to my eyes. No longer is our battle cry, "Remember Pearl Harbor!" Thanks to you and your kind it will now and forevermore be "Remember 911!" whenever the innocents of any nation find themselves threatened by cowards with guns. I do not, for a moment, deny that you hurt me. Far too many parents and children now go to bed wondering where their loved ones are. And yes, I am momentarily reeling. But it is with the sudden realization that I share the planet with anyone capeable of such an atrocity against the humanity of so many nations. In his Inagural Address in Washington DC on January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy said, "Let every nation know, wether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty." He was talking about the liberty of all men, of all faiths, of all nations. You need to understand that the truth of that statement is the very fabric of who and what I am. I wish neither to rule or inflict injury upon the innocents of any nation. I am the lion who sleeps with God's lambs to protect them from ravenous wolves that would devour them. your 911 call has awakened the lion and now I hunger for the flesh of wolves. In closing let me state that Muhammad taught that Allah is a God of love - yet you have the unmitigated gall to bastardize Islam to suit your own personal, unholy agenda. Who now is the infidel?
Scincerly, The Reverend Charles Stanley
*** The Buildings***
*The World Trade Center*
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were places of employment for some 50,000 people, that means that 90% of the people targeted survived the attack. And 90% is a very high number.
*The Pentagon*
Some 23,000 people were the target of a third plane aimed at the Pentagon. The latest count shows that 123 lost their lives. That is an amazing 99.5% survival rate. In addition, the plane seems to have come in too low, too early to affect a large portion of the building. On top of that, the section that was hit was the first of five sections to undergo renovations that would protect the Pentagon from terrorist attacks. it had recently completed straightening and blastproofing, saving untold lives. this attack was sad but a statistical failure.
***The Planes***
*American Airlines Flight 77*
The Boeing 757 that was flown into the Pentagon could have carried up to 289 people, yet only 64 were aboard. Luckily 78% of the seats were empty.
*American Airlines Flight 11*
This Boeing 767 could have had up to 351 people aboard, but only carried 92. Fortunately it was 81% empty.
*United Airlines Flight 175*
Another Boeing 767 that could have sat 351 people only had 65 people onboard. Fortunately it was 81% empty.
*United Airlines Flight 93*
This Boeing 757 was one of the most uplifting stories yet. The smallest flight to be hijacked with only 45 people aboard out of a possible 289 had 84% of its capacity unused. Yet these people stood up to the attackers and thwarted a fourth attempted attack on a nationla landmark, saving untold numbers of lives in the process.
***In Summery***
Out of potentially 74,280 Americans directly targeted by these inept cowards, 93% survived or avoided the attacks. That's a higher survival rate than heart attacks, breast cancer, kidney transplants, and liver transplants, all common, survivable illnesses. The hijacked planes were mostly empty, the Pentagon was hit at its strongest point, the overwhelming majority of the people in the World Trade Center buildings escaped, and a handful of passengers gave the ultimate sacrifice to save even more lives. Pass this information on to those in fear and the media. Don't fear these terrorists, the odds are against them.
I am the flag of the United States of America. My name is "Old Glory". I fly atop the world's tallest buildings. I stand watch in America's halls of justice. I fly majestically over institutions of learning. I stand gaurd with power in the world. Look up and see me. I stand for peace, honor, truth, and justice. I stand for freedom. I am confident. I am arrogant. I am proud. When I am flown with my fello banners, my head is a little higher, my colors a little truer. I bow to no one! I am recognized all over the world. i am worshiped. I am saluted. I am loved. I am revered. I am respected and I am feared. I have fought in every battle of every war for 200 years. I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Appomattox. I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France, in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy, Guam, Okinawa, Korea and KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam know me, I was there. I lead my troops. I was dirty, battle worn, and tired, but my soldiers cheered me and I was proud. I have been burned, torn and trampled on the streets of countries I helped set free. it does not hurt for I am invincible. I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled on the streets of my country. And when it's done by those whom I've served in battle it hurts. But I shall overcome - for I am strong. I have slipped the bonds of Earth and stood watch over the unchartered frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon.m I have born silent witness to all of America's finest hours. But my finest hours are yet to come. When I am torn into strips and used as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battlefield, when I am flown at half mast to honor my soldier, or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent at the grave of their fallen son or daughter, I am proud. MY NAME IS OLD GLORY, LONG MAY I WAVE. DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN, LONG MAY I WAVE.
An ode to America: Why are Americans so united? They don't resemble one another even if you paint them.
They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilazations. Some of them are nearly extint, others are incompatable with one another, and in matters of religious beliefs, maybe not even god can count how many there are.
Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred millon people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, the secret services that they are a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed on the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and give a helping hand.
After the first moments of panic, they raised the flag on the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag.
They placed flags on buildings and on cars as if in every place and on every car a minister or the President was passing.
On every occasion they started singing their national song: "God Bless America".
Silent as a rock I watched the charity concert broadcast on Saturday once, twice, three times, on different TV channels. There were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson, Robert de Niro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springstein, Sylvester Stalone, James Woods, and many others who no film or producers could ever bring together.
The American solidarity spirit turned them into a choir. Actually choir is not the word. What you could hear was the heavy artillary of the American soul. What neither George W. Busch, or Bill Clinton, nor Colin Powell could say without facing the risk of stumbling over their words and sounds, was being heard in a great and unmistakeable way at this charity concert.
I don't know how it happened that all this obsessive signing of America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or ostentatious! It made you green with envy cause you weren't able to sing for your country without running the risk of being considered chauvanist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests.
I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of it's rerun for hours listening to the story of a guy who went down 100 floors with a woman in a wheel chair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player who fought with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were the able to bow before a fellow human?
Imperceptibly, with every word and note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heros. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into a fund aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit which nothing can buy.
What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmering phrases which risk of sounding commonplace. I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion.
Only freedom can work such miricals!
And God, our Lord, thank you for our faith and trust in you!
A tear fell and was heard around the world.
Morning broke, bright and clear.
A new day, full of hope, full of promise.
Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters-
Family. They kissed, they hugged, they said goodbye.
They would meet again,
Meet when the duties of the day were fulfilled.
Then a tear fell, and was heard around the world.
The unspeakable came to visit America,
Land of the free.
Human-filled missles. Balls of fire from the sky.
Twin towers. World icons. Now ominous infernos.
Open mouths, stares of disbelief.
Then, in a moment, the towers were gone.
A tear fell, and was heard round the world.
Piles of rubble remained where hours before
Thousands appeared for a normal day of toil.
Dads, moms, sons and daughters-
If they forgot to say goodbye they never would.
Gone in a moment, gone in horror, hurled to their deaths.
America rallied. More important, the world rallied.
A tear fell, and was heard round the world.
Rescuers by the hundreds died,
When the behemouths came down.
The hopeless, the helpless, jumped to their deaths.
Hundreds of feet in the air, plummeting like birds,
Forgotten how to fly.
But they will not be forgotten. Ever.
A tear fell, and was heard round the world.
Broken bodies, broken homes, broken dreams.
The cries of those buried alive went unheard.
But some, by the mercy od God, were saved.
Somehow, someway, their angels found them,
Hovering there, weeping, praying.
Calling on that very God their nation has forgotten.
People died that autumn day.
People died by the hundreds.
Defensless people died without warning.
From the air, they died. From the towers, they died.
They came to rescue their fellow man, and they died.
A monument will rise there, on hallowed ground,
For a tear fell, and was heard round the world.
- Kirby Jonas September 11, 2001
New York City Fireman
Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You hit the Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American bodies, to take out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman, you STILL missed America. Why? Because of something you guys will never underdstand. America is not about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about military centers, America isn't about a place. America isn't even about a bunch of bodies. America is about an IDEA. An idea, that you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part, live you envisioned living, and pursue happiness. (No garuntees that you'll reach it, but you can sure try!) Go ahead and whine your terrorist whine, and chant your terrorist litany: "If you cannot see my point, then feel my pain." This concept is alien to Americans. We live in a country where we don't have to see your point. But you're free to have one. We don't have to listen to your speech. But you're free to say one. Don't know where you got the strange idea that everyone has to agree with you. There's a spirit that tends to take over people who come to this country, looking for oportunity, looking for freedom. Even if they missuse it. You guys seem to be incapeable of understanding that we don't live in America, America lives in us! American Spirit is what it's called. And killing a few thousand of us, or even a few million of us, won't change it. Most of the time, it's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of Spirit. Until we are crossed in a cowardly manner, then it becomes an entirely different kind of Spirit. Wait until you see what we do with that Spirit, this time. Sleep tight, if you can. We're coming!
It was late Tuesday evening
Before a mother could sit down
To tell her only child,
About the tragedy that hit downtown.
She looked into the eyes of her son.
God she loved him so.
She felt her heart beging to break
And the hurt beging to show.
She gathered all her strength and courage,
As her story she began to tell.
"Baby don't cry, but I'm afraid Daddy
May be under a building that fell."
The boy looked back at his mother,
His eyes made not one blink.
And the mother's tears began to fall.
What would her baby think?
You see, his dad is a firefighter,
And his hero from his birth.
He loved his dad more than anything else
That could ever inhabit the earth.
The mother's head began to drop
Her forhead resting on palms.
She thought her son would be upset.
Instead he was very calm.
The boy leaned over toward his mom,
And put his hand upon her head.
In her ear he began to whisper,
And this is what he said:
"Mommy please don't cry,
I knew Daddy wasn't comming home.
I talked to him just awhile ago,
But it wasn't on the phone.
He told me that he loved me,
And he promised we'd meet again.
He told of his new home,
And the job he was to begin.
God is building an army
And there are many angels needed.
That is where my daddy and the others went.
They weren't all defeated."
It was then that the mother lifted her head.
Tears streamed down her face.
And she could feel her husband's prescence,
As it filled her heart with grace.
It was then she knew her son was right.
He was in God's great army now.
She also knew her son was safe,
That he'd be kept form harm somehow.
So, evildoesrs of the world beware.
An army is on the way.
Bolsted by new angels,
Who left the towers that day.
Their commander has never been beaten.
His power has never been matched.
And if evil thinks He was almighty before,
Well, the surface has just been scratched!
The Faith of Todd Beamer
"I don't think we are going to get out of this thing. I am going to have to go out on faith." It was the voice of Todd Beamer, the passenger, and Wheaton College graduate who said "Let's roll!" as he led the charge against the terrorists who hijacked United Flight 93, the one, you will remember, That crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside. The whole world knows how brave Beamer and his fellow passengers were on September 11, 2001. But this week we learned more fully what buttressed that bravery: Faith in Jesus Christ. Todd died as he lived, a faithfull evangelical believer. In an article titled "The Real Story of Flight 93" Newsweek reviels gripping new details from the actual transcripts of the now recovered cockpit voice recorder. "Todd had been afraid" newsweek relates. "More than once he cried out for his Savior." After the passengers were herded to the back of the jet, Beamer called the GTE Costomer Center on Oakbrook, Illinois.
He told supervisor Lisa Jefferson about the hijacking. The passengers were planning to jump the terrorists, he said. And then asked her to pray with him. As Newsweek relates, "Beamer kept a Lord's Prayer bookmark in his Tom Clancy novel, but he didn't need any prompting, he began to recite the anciant litany, and Jefferson joined him: Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name." As they finished Beamer added, "Jesus help me." And then Beamer and his fellow passengers prayed a prayer that has comforted millions down through the centuries. The prayer that David wrote in a time of great anguish: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Yea though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear no evil. And then the famous last words "Are you guys ready? Let's roll!" We now know from the cockpit voice recorder that Beamer and the other passengers wrestled with the hijackers and forced the plane to crash into the ground. Killing themselves but foiling what was believed to be the hijacker's plan to fly Flight 93 into the Capitol or White House. As Christians we know that God can bring good out of evil. In Todd Beamer, the world witnesses a faith that held up in the extremity of fear. A faith that is even now comforting his widow and two young sons. Lisa Beamer told NBC's Dateline, "You know, in The Lord's Prayer, it asks us to forgive our tresspasses as we forgive those who tresspass against us. As Todd prayed this prayer in the last moments of life, in a way, he was forgiving those people for what they were doing. The most horrible thing you could ever do to someone." It wasn't Todd Beamers job to fight terrorists. He was just a passenger, who along with several others, did what he didn't have to do but foiled a terrible event that might have been done to his country. As Flight 93 hurdled towards destruction, Todd Beamer could not have known that his quiet prayers would ultimately be heard by millions, that the story of his last acts on Earth would be a witness to the Lord he loved and served and a lasting example of true heroism.
