Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 7, 2020
On Sunday we mark the 21st year memorializing the slaughter of 2,977 innocent souls, the victims of 19 Muslim extremist terrorists who skyjacked four American airplanes with the intent purpose of inflicting as much damage as possible against people, property, and the body politic. With ruins in its wake, the American people coalesced - even if for a short time - to remind the world that the United States may bend, but it will never break. Even President George W. Bush received a standing ovation at Yankee Stadium during the World Series.
Yet in the interim, during the past two decades, the United States and a certain segment of the American people have tried their level best to prove prophetic Abraham Lincoln. On January 27, 1838 during an address in Springfield, IL, Lincoln opined "At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
Instead of shoring up the military might and strength of the American armed forces, the so-called military leaders are relieving good men and women of their duty because they chose bodily autonomy where the Covid vaccination is concerned. Recruitment is down and has not met its obligations under the Biden administration. Far too many of these so-called military leaders are more concerned with pronouns, white rage, equity, and checking boxes.
While this administration is allowing every Tammy, Ricardo, and Mohammad to invade our supposedly sovereign nation via the southern border, unvetted, sans Covid testing, and collect as many freebies as possible, our brave and honorable military veterans are being treated shabbily by the very nation they served. There are nearly 38,000 homeless veterans scattered about the fruited plain, and still thousands more veterans and September 11 first responders not receiving the services they so desperately need and have most certainly earned - be they medical, psychological, or financial.
The politicians on both sides of the aisle have allowed the Chinese Communist Party to steal American intellectual property right before our very eyes. Additionally, the CCP is buying American farmland - to the tune of 352,140 acres in 2020 up from 13,720 acres in 2010, according to the Department of Agriculture. This includes lands dangerously close to Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, and F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.
This is not to politicize the tragedies of September 11, 2001, but present facts and a cogent argument supporting the point of the downward spiral of the United States over the past 21 years. There are myriad other reasons the United States is in decline - from the embarrassing, severe, indoctrination in the K-12 schools as well as on college campuses, an epidemic rise in crime rates, an almost non-existent value placed on human life, and a loss of faith, as evidenced by the shrinking rates of attendance in our houses of worship.
For the 21st year we will pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Muslim extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos.
A brief timeline of the harrowing and disturbing events of September 11, 2001:
Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights depart Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.
8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly.
9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly.
9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.
9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground.
9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning for 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered.
10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets.
10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.
10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are murdered.
8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.
May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001 always be for a blessing. This must never be forgotten.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon.
