SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, NEVER FORGET, ALWAYS REMEMBER - THE SUNDAY COMMENTARY

Ten years ago on a bright beautiful Tuesday morning what most thought could never happen in The United States took place, terrorism in the face of cowardly Islamic fanatics known as Al Qaeda came to our shores and killed our people. Beginning at 8:46 AM when American flight 11 was flown into the North Tower of The World Trade Center our country and the lives of every American were forever changed.

Much has taken place since then to politicize this terrible day and use it for political gain or play a politically correct game at the expense of the memory of those who perished on that Tuesday but one thing remains the same regardless of politics. A cowardly force of evil in the form of Islamic terrorists claiming to kill in the name of Allah murdered innocent people who were guilty of nothing more than rising from bed that morning and going to work.

Ten years later the politically correct have chosen to not invite first responders to the memorial service in New York City. New York City police and fire departments and Port Authority police were not invited to The World Trade Center on 9/11 in 2001 and that day they became the selfless heroes who saved thousands and sacrificed their lives to save those who could not be saved because of the terrible destruction caused by the planes as they hit the Twin Towers.

Yet these brave first responders thought not of themselves but the safety of others whose names they did not know and whose lives were more important to each responder than their own. We remember this day their sacrifice and their selfless devotion to saving lives. They are the heroes of 9/11 and no amount of political correctness will ever change that.

We remember those who were murdered on American flight 11, United flight 175 and America flight 77 who innocently boarded a plane that morning to travel and the cowards of Al Qaeda used them and their planes as weapons to murder others. They did not choose that day to be victims but became victims of terror because of Islamic cowards.

We remember the heroes of United flight 93 who became the first warriors to fight terrorists under the battle cry, "let's roll," chose to attack their killers and prevent the plane from being used as a weapon to murder possibly thousands as it is believed the plane was headed to the Capitol Building to destroy it. They fought and now they are memorialized at a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania where their gallant fight ended in the crash of flight 93.

We remember the more than 2000 who were trapped in the inferno near the top of Twin Towers of The World Trade Center. We can never forget watching them hang out of windows wanting desperately to be rescued and those who were forced to make the agonizing choice of burning alive or falling more than 80 stories and chose to fall rather than burn. And then the collapse of the buildings as each floor pancaked on the other killing all inside. Murdered by cowards who killed them in the name of Allah.

We remember the innocent workers both military and civilian who while siting at their desk performing their tasks died as Islamic cowards flew a plane into the side of The Pentagon killing those on the plane and the workers who did nothing more than do what they had dome hundreds of times before behind their desks but this day they died in an inferno caused by evil.

We also remember on this day the thousands of brave Americans who have fought the battle of freedom in the uniform of the Armed Forces of The United States. Sacrificing to defend freedom on foreign soil to prevent another 9/11 from ever happening in our country again. We remember those who have fought and those who gave the last full measure of devotion in that fight giving their all for freedom and their fellow Americans.

Finally we remember the families who lost so many on 9/11 who mourn their loss every day remembering the good times with a father, mother, brother, sister, child or friend who died at the hands of evil on that Tuesday ten years ago. We lift them in our thoughts and prayers as they attempt to fill the void left in their lives by the loss of their love one at the hands of Islamic cowards.

Ten years have gone by and the gaping wound left by the attacks of September 11 have eased in the pain left by the shock of what happened but the memory of those who perished and the change it made in our country will always be present in the hearts and minds of America and Americans. We must NEVER forget those who perished and we must NEVER forget WHO did this to us and the cowardly way Al Qaeda attacked America on September 11, 2001.

Ken Taylor