In Honor and Remembrance

Growing up I remember studying about Pearl Harbor and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's address to Congress.  His speech that day would become one of the most iconic in American history.  The famous line was "Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

I never really understood what President Roosevelt meant when he said "a date which will live in infamy" until Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

Fifteen years later, I remember where I was and what was happening around me.  I was at the Houston Intercontinental  Airport.  I was flying to Laredo, Texas for the day to work with the consultants at the Elizabeth Arden Counter at Dillard's.  I can remember waiting for the airplane to arrive and watching the Continental attendants talking to each other at the gate.  I saw one of the attendants begin to cry and I knew something had happened, but I wasn't for sure what it was.  I thought a plane had crashed.  All of sudden over the loud speaker, a man stated that all flights were being cancelled and everyone needed to leave the airport.

No one knew exactly all that had happened, except it was not good.  I got back to my car and turned on the radio and began to hear the news reporters talking about the various incidents.  It wasn't until I got home and turned on the television that I began to understand exactly what the impact was.  There were four terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States.

September 11th will always be "a date of infamy".  Today marks the 15th anniversary of terrorist attacks that killed 2,977 people in New York, the Pentagon and in a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Today as I reflect on that day and everything that has happened since that time, I am thankful for my country and the men/women who continue to stand up and protect the freedom that I have.   May we "never forget"!