| Author | Message | ||
     chris clements (Cclemen) New Member Username: Cclemen Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2003 |
Hey y'all, I found this moving. Take it however you want to. "DO NOT FORGET" I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" Now I know why. I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?" Now I know why. Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil people. On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors. On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others. Many political pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Major television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers. I will not be manipulated. I will not pretend to understand. I will not forget. I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting. I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president." I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington." And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely -- nor should they be expected -- to show deference." I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America. I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem communications. I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration. I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the silly "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport. I will not be influenced by so called,"antiwar demonstrators" who exploit the right of expression to chant anti-American obscenities. I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines. I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality. I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it? There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must!" I will force myself to: -hear the weeping -feel the helplessness -imagine the terror -sense the panic -smell the burning flesh - experience the loss - remember the hatred. I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?" Now I know. We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living. -- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.) Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine. Keep this going until every living American has read it and memorized it so we don't forget, ever. | ||
| Kevin Bridges (Craniac) Member Username: Craniac Post Number: 44 Registered: 02-2003 |
Wow,that was very cool.I dont understand whats wrong with standing up for yourself.Why is it so pollitically incorrect to demand justice? I agree with Tony Blair they would have been much happier if the numbers were 70,000. After all,they used general aviation aircraft to destroy civilian targets.Do we think their done? Should we do nothing? Remember Iraq still thinks they won 10 years ago. Maybe they did. | ||
| Brian Friend (Brianfriend) Senior Member Username: Brianfriend Post Number: 496 Registered: 09-2002 |
Semper Fi Top Evans | ||
| Dean Chrismon (Chrismonda) Member Username: Chrismonda Post Number: 72 Registered: 12-2002 |
Hey Chris do you think that this generation has the balls that our grandfathers and grandmothers had in the 1940's? I don't think they do. I think that our nation has become to selfish and only thinks for themselves. I my self would do anything to fight against tyranny so that future people could burn flags and step all over the constitution. | ||
| Lawrence Tilly (L_tilly) Member Username: L_tilly Post Number: 95 Registered: 02-2002 |
So many people have complained that we should have known what was going on prior to the 9/11 attack and done something about it. My question to them: If we knew that OBL and his network were planning an unknown attack on a civilian target that was intended to kill thousands of Americans, would Americans have supported a preemtive strike on OBL? I doubt it. We are at the same point again. We have a known madman, with known motivation and known means but complacent America would rather wait until we or another nation is victimized and lives are lost. -Lawrence | ||
| Paul Grant (Paulgrant) Member Username: Paulgrant Post Number: 181 Registered: 10-2002 |
So we're running repeats just like syndicated TV now. Well, we here we have someone getting his sense of history from blockbuster movies. I guess I'm alone in finding that more than a little bit scary. But hey, I already know I'm dealing with a uniquely enlightened crowd on a few these threads. You're right, I will not be manipulated, nor will I allow myself to forget. I most certainly will not allow myself to be brainwashed by the yellow journalism that pours forth from corporate media. My family and I lost numerous friends and acquaintances on that fateful day. My family and I saw the horror of that day touch those whose job it was to serve and protect on that day. We will never forget. Nor will we allow the memory of those we lost be corrupted by immoral actions taken in their name by those with less than pure motives. It seems to me that calling upon the memory of those who lost the most in such a horrendous act as way 9/11 to justify further atrocities only serves to illustrate how weak the real arguements for such a war are. Posts like this one anger me because they cheapen the value of the lives lost. The poster is surrepticiously employing them to promote his own position and that, to me is immoral. Flame away. Paul | ||
| Bill M. (Circekat) Member Username: Circekat Post Number: 176 Registered: 03-2002 |
I remember: - the protesters in 1980 who set up picket lines and threw insults at my shipmates and I in Alameda, CA. for being a part of a task force that was to go and rescue American hostages from Iran. - the protesters at O'Hare Airport who asked me how many innocents I planned on killing as I went to get to my schools at Great Lakes Naval Station. - the protesters and the media who blamed the Navy when a protester fell on the tracks and lost his legs as a loaded weapons train ran over him after Military Police and Sheriff's Deputies warned him to get out of the way at Naval Weapons Station Concord. - walking through Kuwait City, looking at hotels and other buildings with holes blasted through them and the taxi driver who thanked us for being in our nations service so that His countries Government was restored to power. - preparing to go to an unnamed country to operate an ocean port; being told another unit was going in our place; and watching the invasion of Somalia, knowing that is where we were suppossed to go there. - being in numerous security black-outs where I and others in my unit could not, under penalty of courts-martial, tell our friends and families where we went during certain phases of deployments. To this day my family knows that I went to sea and returned, but there are a lot of days where I was merely "underway." I am not a hero, I have not seen a lot of military actions, I have served proudly and am willing to get back into uniform should the need arise. I am still a Sailor. Bill M. |
