Where Were You On That September Morning?

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Six years ago today, the most horrific attack- thus far- came upon this land. As you saw in the clip, the United flight 175 crashed right into the south tower, just minutes after American 11 hit the north tower. Terrorist connected with al-Qaida commandeered the planes, and those of United 93- where a brave four attempted to retake control- which later crashed into a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania .and American 77 crashed the east side of the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

What was supposed to be an election day in the Big Apple- New Yorkers were to elect a new mayor that day- had turned into a day not unlike the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, some 60 years before. 2,974 souls were lost on September 11, 2001- earlier estimates put the figures as high as 50,000- including firemen; policemen; investment bankers; and other workers and civilians.

For this author, it was another day- in New Orleans, Louisiana.

A number of us worked for this day labor staffing agency, Temps Today, and we were at the Louisiana Superdome, cleaning up the aisles in preparation for the home opener against the San Francisco 49ers, which was to commence that succeeding Sunday.

At about 10:30AM, or 11:00AM Central Time, the supervisor, Mary Wilson- no relation to the member of the legendary Motown group, the Supremes- gave the order to everyone to drop everything, stop what we were doing, and evacuate the Superdome. My first thought, of course, was that somewhere in the facility, there was a fire. So, after we had put our supplies away and had out tickets signed, I went to the Wendy's across the street (on Poydras Street), then went to the Duncan Plaza, which is between the City Hall and the main library (the Louisiana Supreme Court building is on the grounds of Duncan Plaza). I turned on the radio, and this was the first that I heard of the towers falling- or at least one of them. The gravity of the situation hadn't quite yet hit me. As I was listening to the news, I saw signs on the buses- both the NORTA (New Orleans Regional Transit Authority) and JeT (Jefferson Parish Transit Administration)- reading either emergency of evacuation. So somehow, something may have happened somewhere in downtown New Orleans.

About 1:00PM, I went to the main library, and got on line shortly thereafter.

What I saw on the WABC-TV, ABC 7 website nearly brought up that supersized Wendy's lunch.

Debris and smoke all over. People running away. The plane flying into the south tower. The subsequent collapse of both building and a few surrounding structures as well.

What person would not be affected by those images?

THE DAYS AFTER
In the intervening days, I saw images of retaliation everywhere. One truck I came across had a message that still sticks in my mind six years later: WE'RE GONNA GET YOU! That same truck had the words R.I.P. WTC. I drew a picture of a cross-eyed Osama bin Laden upon seeing that.

Just weeks later, my- and basically America's- worst fears were confirmed when I watched a smiling bin Laden talk about how he masterminded the attacks on American soil. My blood boiled, teeth gritted. Fists balled up.

Of course, we've since went to war on terrorism, both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

No matter what party you belong to. And no matter how you stand on this war. The fact remains that we have an enemy who wants to wipe America right off the map. Not just our way of like, the way of freedom and democracy, but everyone on it. We have an enemy out there who wants to bring its' version of Islam worldwide. One where women have no rights. One where dissent brings death. One where you're pretty much under Islamic martial law.

And Osama bin Laden wants America to embrace Islam. Even if we did- and in many respects, we do embrace 'the religion of peace', just not bin Laden's idea of it- what makes anyone think that he won't still try to bring us Americans to our knees? Think about it.

Those who want to bring our troops home fail to realize this. Sure, they hate President George W. Bush- and to be honest, I don't think too highly of the man myself. However, I stand by him when it comes to this war- but the question I ask is would you much rather have the Islamofascists come on our shores and defecate on our American constitution and freedom? Or would you rather let our troops do their jobs, stop the insurgents and al-Qaida/Hezbollah/Hamas types over there?

We must stay the course, no matter the cost. We must not lose this fight against terrorism. We must bring the terrorists down. And we will. Right down to the last drop of terrorist blood.

Copyright (C)2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.