To all-

Today is the 12th anniversary of the attacks on the United States at the World Trade Center in NYC and the Pentagon in DC. Lest we not forget, many people also died when one of the 4 hijacked planes crashed in a field in rural PA.

I visited the chapel at my church, United Church of Gainesville, today to light candles and pray for the souls of those who were killed or injured, including the police and firefighters, and all the families and friends of those who perished.

I remember exactly where I was when I heard the horrible news. I had stopped at the home architectural office in Delray Beach to pick up blueprints and other documents, which needed to be taken to the jobsite in Palm Beach. As I was getting back in my car, my jobsite friend, Craig, was driving up, he shouted through the car window, "Hey, Bruce, did you hear that a plane just crashed into the WTC towers? It was on the Howard Stern radio show!"

I drove to the jobsite, and soon my supervisor's roommate brought a small tv there. We all sat watching, absolutely stunned by what was happening. By then the second tower had been hit. Then they said another plane had struck the Pentagon, and there was a rumor a bomb had gone off at the State Department.

Soon, my other co-worker friend there said, "Hey, I only see one tower standing!" We all watched wide-eyed, and he was right! You know, we never did much work at all that entire day, even when the boss walked in. We were absolutely mesmerized, thinking our country was under attack and headed to war. I felt so bad for the thousands of people killed and injured, and the massive destruction caused by the hijackers. Southern Manhattan seemed to be in absolute smoky chaos.

As I found out more about this, I was angry at Dubya Bush, who remained in an elementary classroom in Sarasota, FL, several minutes after he KNEW we were under attack, instead of getting his ass going, and acting like the "Chief Executive and "Leader of the Free World" he was supposed to be (not that he was really ELECTED, but that's a WHOLE 'nother story, and I won't get into that here).

That night, it was the QUIETEST night I can remember in my life. All the planes in the US had been grounded, and there were no cars driving past our house. Everyone must have been glued to their tv sets, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

As time went by, more details came out, rumors were quashed, and facts were finally uncovered. Again I was angry, because we went after Saddam Hussein in Iraq, mainly because Dubya wanted to get him back for the Persian Gulf War that W's father had endured. It wasn't a totally BAD idea, since Saddam liked to use human shields, and started hundreds of oil well fires upon leaving Kuwait. But isn't wasn't the BEST or most APPROPRIATE idea, seeing as how 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis!

But because we depend so much on Saudi Arabian OIL and therefore they are our ALLIES, we couldn't possibly attack them and expect to get the OIL we so desperately depend on.

Well, at least OBAMA got OSAMA, but it took until 2012 to do it.

My second wife, Judy, and I visited the WTC site in December 2002. By then, it was cleared of debris and was just a huge, fenced-in, smooth dirt surface. There were informational panels for visitors to look at. The Catholic church across the street still had signs posted by people who at one time were searching for friends and loved ones. There were still flowers laid there too. Of course, in the old American entrepreneurial spirit, there were hawkers selling all kinds of 9/11 books and souvenirs. A huge American flag hung from an adjacent building. with an equally large sign below it saying, "WE WILL NEVER FORGET."

But I wonder, will we really REMEMBER? We ALWAYS tend to jump quickly to the next issue or crisis in this country, our attention span is quite short.

Of course, everyone can recall where they were when 9/11 happened. An earlier generation remembers the JFK assassination. Before that, it was Pearl Harbor. BTW, George Bush (not Dubya) once made a speech on SEPTEMBER 7th, and wondered out loud, if anyone remembered that it was Pearl Harbor Day? I'll bet his aides got a real good laugh over THAT one, and had to do quite a bit of DAMAGE CONTROL as a result of his unbelievable gaffe. And we ELECTED this guy?

NOW, after losing  thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are contemplating military action in Syria. Our leaders often fail to realize that the Middle East has been a continual POWDER KEG for decades, ever since Israel became a state, or even before that, just waiting for a spark like that to send us all into World War 3! We attack Syria, the other Arab countries come to its defense, Iran gets mad and fires a missile (or a nuclear device, if they have it, and nobody really knows for sure) at Israel, and all ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!

Food for thought, before we once again decide to embark on a very slippery slope....

-Bruce
352-239-1363

1609 NW 29 Road, #141-G

Gainesville, FL 32605
 

brucefrendahl@aol.com