Two years ago at this time, I went to the quick oil change place on the way to work. When I walked in, a man was staring at the television that was mounted high on the wall. I saw an airplane crash into a tower. The man started desperately dialing his cell phone. I said “what in the world is that?” He told me, and added that his daughter was attending college a few blocks from the WTC and he could not get her on the cell phone. It was the start of a day of horror. I never saw the man again, but I prayed on the way to the office that he would find his daughter safe and sound. I thought of my own oldest daughter and prayed for her safety away from me as well.

Thus started a new era in American life. It must have been a little like life after Pearl Harbor, in the sense that Americans, who had previously felt invulnerable, now realized they could be attacked on their own soil. As Americans do, we got busy. We buried the dead, cared for the wounded, cleaned up the mess, debated the issues, and retaliated.

Despite all the political correctness that some have tried to force down our throats this last year, many have come to the realization that we have enemies determined to kill us and end our way of life. We have often realized that we were misunderstood or unappreciated, but few of us knew we were hated, despised, and targets of torture an death. More of us need to realize this.

In my personal life, I learned long ago that people do not respect you if they can run over you. Sure, nice people don’t do that. But there are many people that aren’t nice. Radical Islam is not nice. They want to wipe us from the face of the earth in the same way Texas homeowners want to kill fire ants: kill them all and let God sort them out.

Remember the fallen today and everyday. Remember the victims who were just working, supporting their families, trying to accomplish something, who were dispatched from life without a moment of regret by their killers. Remember the wives who have no husbands, the children who have no fathers, the friends who have only holes where friends used to be in their lives.

Be a patriot today. Support those who protect our country.

God Bless America.

Please.