By Mark Weyermuller –
Every year I join a group that places 2996 American Flags at a park in Winnetka, Illinois. It’s one flag for each person killed on September 11, 2001. That day was 17 years ago this week when four airplanes were hijacked by 19 Muslim terrorists. They crashed two planes into the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York, one into the Pentagon in Washington DC, and another into a field in Pennsylvania.
This year on the afternoon of September 10, 2018 about 40 people gathered to plant the flags, for a one day tribute. The group placing the flags included cops, firefighters, neighbors, parents, and lots of kids.
It’s interesting that 17 years later the bulk of today's school age children were not born on that fateful day. It took about an hour for us together to place the almost 3000 flags in an area 50 by 60 feet.
On a separate note, I’ve heard that some schools have no mention on this day or even a moment of silence. It seems like their should be time set aside at schools to talk about this.
This is also a day to remember the Benghazi attack of 2012 which resulted in the deaths of four Americans. They were US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens; USFS officer Sean Smith; CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty. This attack and actions (or lack of) continues to be an item of discussion as Hillary Clinton continues on with life. She was Secretary of State at that time. She blamed a YouTube video for a "spontaneous" attack, yet later it was shown to be a well planned out deliberate attack on the American embassy.
I believe Monday, September 11, 2019 will be much the same. They say time heals all wounds yet I suspect this is not the case. For the families who lost loved ones that day, the heartache will never disappear.
God Bless America, United We Stand. We will never forget 9-11-2001.
