Monday, September 11, 2006

Five Years Later...

Five years ago we lived here in Arkansas. We had no idea we would have lived in Alabama, then back to Arkansas five years later. We had no idea that we would have two handsome boys. We had no idea what the future had in store for us...

I remember where I was when I heard about the attack. I remember seeing the smoke come out of the World Trade Center as I sat on my couch. Jenn had already left for work at OFSC. I remember talking to my good friend Shaun while he was stuck in Nashville traffic. We were discussing whether it was an accident or terrorism. I was still on the phone with Shaun when the second plane went into the second tower... At that point, we knew the USA was under attack.

Moments later, my text pager said "ALL NEWS STAFF TO THE STATION IMMEDIATELY". That was the start of a very long and sad day. I wasn't a weatherman that day, I was a news man. To be honest, nobody cared about the forecast. I'm not sure I cared about the forecast for several days either.

I can remember coming home that night and standing in the living room... holding my wife... crying... wondering what life would be like from that point forward. Could we bring kids into this messed up world? Was this the start of the end? There were so many questions mixed with so much sadness. The future seemed very dark and shaky.

Here we are 5 years later. We have been blessed with two fine boys. We have moved around a little and gained some great friendships. Overall, life is very good. The country has healed, but it still has scars.

Despite those scars, people in this country question whether we should be fighting this war on terror. Heck, there are days when I question it... BUT, when I think back exactly 5 years from this day... I realize that we are fighting for a good reason.

My brother-in-law will be returning to the USA from Iraq in one month. I assume he will be off of the battlefield within the next couple of weeks to transition home. I'm proud of him. I'm thankful for all of the guys and gals over there that are fighting the people that laughed at the USA, 5 years ago.

God Bless our country and God Bless our soldiers.

Ryan

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen to all you said

Anonymous said...

Well said, Ryan.

Anonymous said...

Very well said!! I've read many articles and heard many people talk about 9-11 today, and your comments are the most sincere and well put.

You are such an asset to Northeast Arkansas.

God Bless you and your family!!!

An avid Kait -8 fan!!

Anonymous said...

Ryan that was well said.But don't confuse the war in Iraq with the war on terrorism. There were no WMD's, there were no Al Qaida, and there was no basis to attack Iraq other than biased information from the Iraqi National Congress ( anti Hussein faction). President "turd blossom"( term I use for P. Bush Jr... it's the flowers that grow in cow pies)had to have congressional approval to attack Iraq. He needed democratic help and the only way he could get it was LIE to the American people.This lie has killed over 2600 US serviceman since 2003. Now Region Eight has had to send their best and bravest to fight a NEEDLESS war. Support the 875th yes, wholeheartedly,but the travesty of sending them needs to be addressed.The need to send them and create the sacrifice to region 8 families makes my blood boil. Remove our troops NOW!!! To think that we can fix an ethnic/religious dispute thats over a 1000 years old is not only stupid but arrogant.Do we have the resolve to fight, to die, for the country we love? you're d@mn right we do. But to sacrifice our people for an ungrateful, beligerant population is the most horrendous thing a "commander -in -chief" can do. If you dispute what I've written here, look it up yourself. Dick Cheney said this week on meet the press we would have attacked Iraq anyway, even if no WMD's couldn't be found

Ryan said...

Anonymous,

Anyone that praises the attacks of 9/11 are considered enemies to me. Saddam may or may not have been directly involved, but Iraq did (and does) harbor terrorists.

The day after 9/11, President Bush promised to fight nations that support and harbor terrorists and I firmly believe Iraq falls under that category.

It's a shame that we have become partison over this issue. I believe the Democrats were scared of the nation rallying around a Republican president, so they make Saddam out to be a good guy that has nothing to do with terrorism. I'm sure Republicans would have doen the same thing if Gore were in office.

Since 9/11, the US has taken the offensive instead of the defensive. This means we attack, before they attack. I don't want 9/11 to happen again and I'm sure you do not either. There is a reason why we have not been attacked again and it is not because we are a "Nicer America". Thankfully we live in a place where we can agree to disagree. Iraq is becoming a place like that too!