Happy September 11th

It's that day again, a time when The United States of America was welcomed to the "global village" of international terrorism. I just hung the flag outside my house and started to reflet on the events seven years ago.

That's right, seven years have passed since over 3,000 Americans lost their lives on that fateful day. Think about this, children that are in the second grade weren't even born when this happened, 8th graders have no memory and it won't be long before incoming college freshman are in the same boat.

Where were you at 8:46 AM EDT on September 11, 2001? I was at work in the Chicago Loop. I was working at an investment firm and had the early shift. I was at my desk for only 20 minutes starting my day as a data communications administrator when I received a call from my buddy Joe. He said, "You'll never believe this, but a jet just smashed into one of the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. That crazy bastard Brian Walsh predicted it - 'It's only a matter of time when an airplane crashes into a skyscraper'. Get down to the 32nd floor to watch CNN on the trading floor..."

And so down to the 32nd floor I went and watched in horror as the second jet slammed into the second tower. No one was talking, everyone was in shock. It went from, "What a terrible accident" to "We're under attack!".

Our team gathered the troops and no inessential personnel was ordered to evacuate the building. I was on the top floor of a 30+ story building at the NW corner of the Chicago Loop which is in direct sight of O'Hare Airport just 13 miles to the Northwest and down the street from the Sears Tower.

Joe and myself left the office just before 10:00 AM and decided to skip public transit altogether and walk to his apartment which was only two miles to the north. It was a crazy scene as thousands of people departed the downtown area. Forget about trying to make a telephone call, all lines were jammed. I eventually was able to reach family to tell them my status.

We arrived at his apartment in time to watch both towers collapse. What an eerie site that is. They fell like a house of cards. Their design was partly to blame. They went up quick and came down even quicker. I could only imagine those smug bastards shouting "Jihad!" in their caves as they got way more than they expected. They likely praised Alah for allowing their f-ing suicide/death/terror mission to be so successful.

I only hope that if the Cold War can come to a peaceful end, so can this socio-religious conflict.