This was sent out in an all employee email this morning...

Quote:



Most of you don't know me or have never met me but I am sending out this email to all in honor of today and the loss the was incurred by this nation 11 years ago today. I have spent almost 11 years in the service of this country's military and I've noticed year after year the memory of this day and loss fading away. A lot of people talk about their memory of "where they were when ___________ died". But do you remember where you were when the United States of America was brutally assaulted by a terrorist force, reawakening us from a lazy slumber and with a shot below the belt, showed us just how vulnerable we actually are? A moment I will never forget.



I was in room 121 of Horno barracks, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA sitting on my field gear. I had an injury that I was healing up from that I had received during our last boat raid operation and tried to sneak out to the field to train with the company and was caught. Luckily my Platoon Sergeant had commended my motivation and not punished me for disobeying the doctor's orders but had still made me stay back. I was back at the barracks with another Marine named Jerry Sparks who was from South Boston (the projects) and had a cast on his left arm from a fight the previous weekend. Knowing Jerry he had hurt himself giving vs. getting. He kicked my door in and in a thick 'Southie' accent started yelling that they were bombing us and that the towers had been hit. The next three days combined into one long day as we were hit with damage and the aftermath on every channel the T.V. would play. This was met with an overwhelming mix of feelings between anger, rage, and excitement. The excitement was from the fact that we were United States Marines and would be the ones to right this wrong.



Soon after I exited the Marine Corps, while in college, I heard a statistic that 33% of Americans couldn't remember what year it was that 9/11 had happened. As an American, but especially as a Marine with 5 tours to the Middle East, this was a heartbreaking fact. Have the men and women serving and sacrificing done it for an ungrateful and forgetful nation?



I really don't know what I am trying to say here folks other than to ensure that this day is not forgotten and lost in history. It is up to us to educate our youth, it is up to us to honor our own by showing those who have lost that they have our love and dedicated support. This day cannot be a day that is written in the history books as a victory for terrorists. What needs be focused on is the fact that on this day in history, we as a country, banned together and supported one another. I am in no way attempting to impose any political or religious views through this email, I am simply wanting to honor the lost and the fallen. Whether you do or you don't support this war is up to you and a right you have as an American. I simply want to say that this is a day for America! This is a day to hold your children and your spouse because time is short, a day to breath in and take hold of the time you have. And because, again, this is a day for America! Please don't forget it!!!




•Triumph Connection