10 years ago. Have you forgotten?

September 11, 2011 was a bright and sunny Tuesday morning. I was anchoring the morning show on Eagle 106.7. Bryant Gumble was on the Today Show that kept on in the control room most mornings to monitor what was news worthy that day and to seek out potential human interest stories that might interest the tens of thousands of people stuck on I-20, I-75, I-85, Georgia 400 or the commuters on I-285. Dave Mester was our producer and he said "Rhubarb, a plane looks like it crashed in one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York City." The usually unflappable Mr. Gumbel was as confused as the viewers who were watching it unfold. We all gathered around the control room television monitor and as we were trying to digest what had happened,and then we saw the second plane crash into the other tower. Only one other time had I seen someone killed on television and that was Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963 when Jack Ruby placed a snub nose revolver into Oswald's stomach and pulled the trigger. Seeing that second plane become a missile killing all on board and thousands in those towers was a sight that will forever more be a painful memory of one of the darkest days in the history of the civilized world. We stopped the music and went into information mode and stayed on the air an hour later than we normally did. I had a speaking engagement that night that had been booked for almost a year and I was wondering how I was going to muster the physical strength needed to address the people that had spent hours, days, weeks and months preparing for a job that I don't have the courage to do. I prayed in the car. Where would the words come from to speak to these wonderful people who wanted to put their lives on the line. It prayed some more. When I addressed the graduation of recruits of the Clayton County Fire Department I could see the despair in the eyes of everyone in the room. I kept my comments short because I knew that most of them would be headed to either New York City, Washington D. C. or a field in Pennsylvania to aid in the efforts after the attack on our soil by people who hate us because we think differently from them. A hatred so deep that they would go on a suicide mission to kill Americans much like the Hari Kari pilots of Japan on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. The recollection of how this nation pulled together and became a truly united country. We we all became New Yorkers that dark day 10 years ago. Old Glory flew and there was a spirit of unity. I remember how that patriotic vibe we had from Nome to Key West was everywhere. There were hats and t-shirts saluting the fire and police departments of America's largest city. There were people who donated to the American Red Cross in the relief effort. There were stories of wives loosing husbands and children loosing their moms and dads in the cowardly attack that Tuesday morning. We were all glued to Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC for weeks after the tragedy. Osama bin Laden was able to crawl up under rocks until May 1st of this year he was caught in his well appointed lair, a word according to the dictionary as a den or resting place of a wild animal. He was indeed that. Some Navy Seals found him in plain sight in Pakistan and put an end to the miserable master mind set on the destruction of the United States and global democracy. I never understood how quickly we forgot within months of September 11th. "Have You Forgotten" by Darryl Worley was a huge chart hit with a deep message that many heard but did not listen to. Our economic downturn began 10 years ago. Restaurants and businesses began closing and our economy began our slow downward slide toward the deep recession of 2008 and 2009. I never understood why there wasn't much anger as should have been toward bin Laden's murderous ilk for not only killing thousands of Americans but for dismantling a robust economy. The American way of life changed 10 years ago. Will it ever fully recover. Well, being from Tallapoosa and being a cock-eyed optimist, I say there is a good chance of it. America has gone through so many changes in the past 10 years. I took my girls to Memphis a couple of years ago and my 4 year old had to remove her sneakers for the Homeland Security folks at Hartfield-Jackson. They went through Presley's Dora the Explorer backpack seeking out weapons. We all had to adjust to a new set of rules brought on by the actions of the vermin of al Qaeda. Unfortunately the Indian Ocean grave of Osama bin Laden will not hold the hate still directed at this country. Vigilance is something we will have to exercise for generations to come to keep terrorism in check. One thing to remember, we have not had another attack on American soil by terrorists in 10 years but we have to maintain a sense of alertness. All of our lives have changed in one way or another by the cowardly attacks of radical criminals. There were some in this country who cried foul on Gitmo saying those people had rights. What about the rights of the widowed wives and husbands and children who are having to suffer not having their loved ones around because they were murdered ten years ago. What about the rights of the first responders who are afflicted with various cancers and lung diseases from the clean up from Ground Zero? Have you forgotten those thousands of souls who perished? I hope we never do forget. Osama bin Laden is gone but his vision for the desruction of Christianity, Judaism, and democracy isn't.