September 11th - Foul Footsteps and American Greatness

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
-- Francis Scott Key, September 3, 1814

Today is September 11th.

I can remember exactly the morning of September 11, 2001. I can also remember the rage I felt. I can remember the faith in our Nation I felt. I can remember the despair I felt over the loss of so many innocents, and the emergency responders who saved many but could not save all.

I do not know what one felt around lunchtime on the east coast on December 7, 1941 - but I imagine it was quite similar to our feelings on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

I remember praying for the comfort of the victims, guidance for our President and leaders, and deliverance and victory for our Nation.

I knew we were at war - and I knew that whatever the cost would be, our Nation would prevail.

We have achieved much in the seven intervening years. Our Nation has been secure; our enemies have yet to strike on our homeland again. For that, there is one man - and one man only - to thank and credit: George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States.

President Bush has been resolute. He has been determined. He has taken the fight to our enemies and has led the efforts and policies that have decimated the Islamofascist foes we face.

Still, our Nation is wounded, and I fear that it has become complacent again.

We are told that showing imagery of 9/11 is painful to the survivors and the families of victims. This is a lie.

We are told that our foreign policies during the Bush Administration have had a negative effect on our security in the world and at home. This is a lie.

Today, seven years on, there is still a gaping, open wound in the heart of the greatest city in the world - why has it not been filled?

The World Trade Center and its Twin Towers should be rebuilt, and it should have been done already.

We are Americans. We do not surrender. We do not cower. We defy our enemies. We do not accept their foul premises. We pick ourselves up and march onward!

We do not languish in sorrow; we take our sorrow and make our enemies pay for it.

It must be said from coast to coast, from Death Valley to the peak of Mt. McKinley, that our enemies have but two options:

Unconditional Surrender or Complete Annihilation

That is what America demands. That is what Freedom demands.

Victory is at hand in Iraq. Victory is coming in Afghanistan. Victory will come on whatever battlefield is next, so long as we look back on 9/11 not with sorrow but with firm belief that the causes of Liberty and Freedom for all men is worth the cost, whatever it may be.

Today is September 11th. This is the day that the greatness of America was to end at the hands of the enemies of Liberty.

They failed.

They will continue to fail.

Henceforth I will hold, and I encourage any who read this to hold, September 11th not as a day of sorrow, but as a day of inspiration. This is the day we saw the worst of our enemies and the best of America. How can that not be inspirational?

Hold September 11th as the day the United States of America realized again our purpose: to defend and protect Freedom and Liberty for all, regardless of nationality, race, color, or creed; to seek out and destroy the enemies of the same; and to carry on the fight regardless of world opinion or human and material costs.

Sixty-eight years ago, Winston Churchill knew in the darkest days of World War II that the United States ultimately was the only hope for the defeat of tyrrany. On June 4, 1940 he said:

We shall never surrender, and even if...[we] were subjugated and starving...[we] would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

That is our charge, and it is a charge the United States of America must keep.

Thank you Lord, for the United States of America and the great opportunity and hope our Nation offers. Defend and protect our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coastguardsmen on battlefields far and near. Watch over and guard our public servants, especially those in law enforcement and emergency first response. Grant our civilian and military leadership the wisdom to prevail and comfort from the stress and trials of their positions. Comfort those who continue to grieve, and restore in them the hope of the future. Continue to bless us all and our Nation with your Grace. We pray this in the name of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just
And this be our motto: "In God is Our Trust".
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!