13 years.... minus 5 days

Hard for me to believe that in 5 short days we will see the 13th anniversary of the 9-11 events. I really thought I would feel.... better by now. I realize every year around this time that I probably won't ever get over it. And I'm glad of that.

I've said before, I wasn't directly involved. I knew "of" the flight attendant from Greensboro that was killed, knowing a number of FA's from my days in aviation and working near USAirways training facility in Winston-Salem. I was "affected" in that I experienced firsthand what I think will be the most shocking part of a post-apocalyptic world: a sky without airplanes.

At the time, I worked for a maintenance facility with a large corporate aviation base, but we also did some airline maintenance. We had contracts with Delta and Skywest, USAirways and CCAir, PSA. We had their on-site reps in our building for weeks on end, baby-sitting and approving work cards. So we were "in" the airline business.

Looking back through the prism of memory, I realize what a beautiful Tuesday morning it would have been. The sun was shining, the sky was that shade we Tarheels call "Carolina Blue". I don't remember any clouds, or wind. It was shaping up to be a gorgeous late summer day, past the heat of the Dog Days of August and the start of school.The weather was an important thing in aviation, it changes the course of your workday. We would have had lots of work coming in, but for an evil plan come to be revealed that morning.

Starting at 846am, and ending less than two hours later, America changed forever. Understandably, the FAA closed our airspace. Planes in the air were given instructions to land immediately. Vice President Cheney gave the order to shoot down any aircraft that was verified as hijacked, but it was too late. Within hours, the skies were empty.

I look back through articles written about the attacks. NYC and the Twin Towers of course get the most attention, but the Pentagon and United Flight 93 were no less devastating. I watched the 9-11 hearings on tv. I've seen the movies, the documentaries, the television specials. I try and watch them each year, because I don't want to ever forget how I felt. I don't ever want to forget how the victims must've felt. Since they were Americans, I hope the one thing they didn't feel was fear. But looking at the response to what happened that September day, I realize that those of us who remain should be the ones who are fearful.

Our government passed up opportunities in the Clinton years to do something about UBL. Instead, Slick Willie blew up a tent with a camel inside and called it a day. They heard rumblings in the years after about "something big". And in typical Federal government fashion, they dicked around and let "something big" happen. And since then, on 9-11-2012, they let something else happen.

Who learned anything from what happened that day? Not the Feds. Not the intelligence agencies. Not the military. They seem no more capable of stopping an attack on America today than they were on that day. They harass grandmas with knitting needles and handicapped kids that might have an Uzi disguised as a crutch. Do people still have to take off their shoes at the airport? Why did that ever even need to be done?

I said earlier I was glad don't feel better in our post 9-11 world. I don't ever want to forget the anger I felt that day. Nothing has changed to prevent it again. 2,977 people gave their lives for nothing, And oh yes, screw you Wikipedia: you can count the 19 hijackers in the death toll if you want, Homey don't play that game.

5 days. 

5 days to make a difference and not let what sacrifices those people made be for naught.

5 days to make those military deaths since 9-11 mean something.

I'm doing my part, by reminding people of what it meant to me that day. Share your story. Make things matter again. Don't take being an American for granted. We are still under attack. At home and abroad.