911, AMERICA, AND INVADING THE EAGLE'S NEST

911, AMERICA, AND INVADING THE EAGLE’S NEST

Perspective From a Proud American

By Keith Wayne Ragan

There are a few events in our lives so catastrophic that they remain etched in our memories for permanent recall,usually not by preference or design.  A date on a calendar, national and world events, an image on a T.V. or movie screen, a post on social media, or a simple flashback are often the trigger for “instant replay”..

I have a dozen or so of these tucked away commanding space of what is left of a once competent memory.  The announcement of the assassination of President Kennedy remains as clear to me as the glass of water on my desk in spite of the passing of a half century of years.  Most of the rest are repressed images and events experienced firsthand during the war in Vietnam.

But, the al- Qaeda September 11, 2001 assault on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon, and all that ensued after, are images of a time in American history that is recalled not only by me but by millions of Americans both painfully and willingly.  No one at an age sufficient to recall that day and those after will ever forget them.

Nor do we want to.  

You cannot sneak up to an eagle’s nest and snatch a morsel from the beak of a chick and not expect to experience serious consequences.  Your life is about to change. Some serious stuff would be about to happen. Predictable stuff. And if you survived at all, survived the inevitable fall sightless, scarred, and missing a few digits, you would be asking yourself forever “what the hell was I thinking”?

A majority of Americans were ambivalent or at least not obsessed or committed to a hatred much less a war with the Islamic radical sects that created such mass destruction and forfeited the lives of so many that day, and ruined the lives so so many affected by it; family members and friends were gone forever while yet others were destined to endure a lifetime of physical scars and pain incurred from the infernos of jet fuel and falling debris. Almost 3000 perished, while another 6000 suffered injury.  The years would take yet others from cancer and respiratory diseases as a result of the environmental aftermath.

The irony is that those invaders claimed that carnage as a victory based on body count.  And in that measure they fell short of the truth. They did not fully understand the consequences of “ticking off” the Eagle.

They underestimated the anger and fortitude of the American people and the capabilities and strength of our military and our willingness to use it.  

They may have wanted to escalate to a war.  They may have been willing to be sacrificial lambs in the name of their religion and God.  But, you have to wonder if the lives of so many of their ilk that have perished since, their soldiers in Jihad as well as friends and family, loss of property and wealth, have caused them to ever wish they had proceeded differently.

But, the sad truth is that this has been a revival of the Holy Wars.  Thousands have died and thousands more are on the horizon. We are in a “catch 22”.  If we abandon the battlefields in the middle East our enemies grow stronger with enhanced capabilities to repeat the horror of September 11, 2001.  Another attack on homeland soil of that magnitude cannot be an entry in our children’s history books. It is unthinkable.

If we remain, resources and lives will continue to become as spent as the leaves of an Appalachian forest in November.

We are in a war that will last the rest of our lifetime, and possibly that of our children.  We are under attack from within as well, even as I write this. There is a belief by this enemy that they can decay our core. and effort is underway to recruit our troubled youth and give them a cause to embrace... with America, sweet America that has made every possible choice and opportunity available to them... a place to hate and fear, as those brainwashed embrace the twisted doctrines of Jihad.

But, WE WILL PERSEVERE.  Because, unlike our enemy, we believe there is only one God. and that God does not ask us to destroy everyone else that differs from us or our way of life.  

WE WILL PERSEVERE because we are not a nation of spectators.  Our citizenry are armed and always stand at the ready.

WE WILL PERSEVERE because of our military arsenal and the character and training of those that serve and have served in our armed services and are willing to do so again at a moment’s notice.  

WE WILL PERSEVERE because our resolve has been tested over and over since our birth as a nation, and we have met those challenges with courage, faith, and unity.  Those things define us. It is what makes us American.

WE WILL PERSEVERE because we are the Eagle.

We are Americans.  We are proud to be Americans.  America’s DNA is a rich and composite blend of every race and nation of people on earth.  It makes our resilience and adaptability and approach to solving our problems the most capable and unique slurry of the human race on the face of the earth.

To our enemies: “Do what you will”.  We will be here. We will always be here.  It is who we are.

Our enemies of Islam should have been content with what they had. But, they invaded the Eagle’s nest..  And now and for the foreseeable future, they will bear the scars. The Eagle will soar. The Eagle will always soar.

May God always bless America.