Today marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the deadliest attacks ever on US soil.
** President Trump will honor **the victims and first responders at a ceremony at the Pentagon (Trump witnessed the attack in person because his window at his real estate business in New York faced the World Trade Center.) Vice President Vance will join former Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton at the commemoration in New York City.
There will also ** be another official** at the NYC ceremony whom a number of 9/11 victims’ families didn’t want there, but he’s coming anyway.
Fox News has created a webpage with continuously-updated news about the 9/11 anniversary.
One of the best ways to teach your children the truth about 9/11 is ** with a visit to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City**. But if you can’t make the trip, their website has a treasure trove of information, including details on the 25
“We love him, because He first loved us.”** 1 John 4:19**
Those of us who were around then will never forget waking up, turning on our televisions and staring in disbelief at a world that seemed to be turning upside down. When the first airliner hit the World Trade Center, most of us thought it was a horrific air accident. But when the second hit, there was no denying that this was a terrorist assault on an unimaginable scale, the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor, a brutal attack on innocent civilians in the heart of America’s greatest city, and an act of war that would change the course of history.
Before that dark day was over, the small group of radical Islamists (and stating that fact is not “controversial”) would murder nearly 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC. And that’s what they were: radical Islamists. Over the past quarter century, a full-scale push has been underway to mislead those born after 9/11 with no personal memory of it that the reactions to it are overblown, that it’s just their elders getting worked up over their youth, and that the attackers were non-specific “extremists” of no particular beliefs.
And of course, the most reprehensible lie of all, spewed by the Democrats’ new pet demagogue Hasan Piker, that America had it coming. This kind of outrageous propaganda can only be sold when the footage of the attacks is locked away in media vaults (as it was for a long time) and when young people get their “news” and “education” from biased media outlets, America-hating teachers and the snarky cesspool of social media.
But telling the truth, that America did NOT “have it coming” and the 9/11 attackers were adherents of a twisted, radical offshoot of Islam, is not a threat against peaceful mainstream Muslims, and that should not be used as an excuse to whitewash either history or the continuing threat from their fellow Islamic terrorists in groups such as ISIS, Hamas and Hezbollah.
The attack was aimed at America, but because it focused on the World Trade Center, the victims were from many nations. But as much as that day displayed the hate and brutality of the terrorists, it also showcased the heroism and selflessness of countless Americans, from the NYPD cops and firefighters who rushed toward danger and gave their lives to save others, to Americans across the nation who stood in long lines to donate blood. Petty differences like race, politics and regional rivalries were swept aside as we all came together like family, because when our nation is under attack, we ARE all family.
Sadly, today, many young people with no personal memory of that day know only the distorted, “blame America” version they hear from leftist teachers and media figures with their own agendas. We also have a crop of leaders who have forgotten the lessons of 9/11 so completely that they’ve allowed the very people who harbored terrorists to resume power, and better equipped than ever, thanks to previous Administrations sending pallets of cash to their sponsors in Iran and leaving our military equipment behind in Afghanistan. And we have political figures who are trying to make us believe that the people who cheered 9/11 are not a threat to America, while the real existential threat comes from working class Republicans who voted for Trump. And of course, the weather.
There are enough stories of incredible heroism and sacrifice relating to 9/11 that they could fill a library of books, so we can’t relate them all here, but if you follow the links to the ceremonies, you will hear many of them. We’ll also honor the victims the way we did 25 years ago: by urging everyone to set aside political grudges and divisions and join together as Americans to offer prayers and remembrances.
Moving forward, as more and more Americans who witnessed 9/11 pass away, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that our children and grandchildren are taught the truth about 9/11. It was one of America’s worst days, yet in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon and on United Flight 93, we also saw Americans at their very best, working together and heroically risking and even laying down their lives for others -- whether they were police and firefighters climbing up into the doomed Towers to search for survivors or American citizens standing up against the hijackers and saying, “Let’s roll!,” knowing it meant their own plane would crash but they would save countless lives.
As we reflect on and remember 9/11, let’s not dwell on the murderous monsters who don’t deserve to have their names remembered. Let’s focus on honoring the victims and the many true heroes, both on that awful day and in the days and years afterward. Let us resolve to end the miseducation of our children and start teaching them the truth about 9/11 and about America’s real history and our people’s true heroic character. And let’s never, ever let our guard – or our national security -- down again.
Speaking of letting our guard down, we recently reported on a military judge throwing out the confession of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, forcing prosecutors to go into his loooong-delayed trial without that key evidence. We’re sure that Mohammed appreciates America’s due process protections that the 9/11 attackers denied to their victims. We’re sure because he made it clear in an interview in 2004 that there would be no need for another 9/11 because our enemies would use America’s kindness and tolerance for free speech and religious freedom to come in and take over from within. Like a Bond villain, ** he told us the evil plan**; but all that the last two Democrat Administrations did about it was to open the floodgates wider.
MUST-READ 9/11 Story: The Rev. Franklin Graham urged Americans to respond to the 25th anniversary of 9/11 the same way they did when it happened: by turning back toward faith in God and going to church. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association produced a program called “A Day That Changed Our Lives Forever,” featuring people’s stories of faith related to 9/11. The most remarkable came from Genelle Guzman-McMillan, the last person pulled alive from the World Trade Center rubble.
She was trapped for 27 hours, unable to move. She finally feared she wouldn’t survive and called out, “God, are you listening to me? Please show me a sign.” Then she felt someone grab her hand. He told her his name was Paul and said, “You’re gonna be fine. Help is on the way. I’m not gonna let you go.” He encouraged her to keep calling out. Finally, she heard a rescuer say, “I see her!”
The identity of Paul remains a mystery, but she’s convinced he was “an angel looking out for me.” She insisted, “I wasn’t hallucinating, I wasn’t dreaming. I knew the conversation that I had. Something happened under that rubble. I found Jesus that day.”
** For the full story** and more real accounts of faith and miracles on 9/11, click the link.
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