"Just as sure as the turning of the Earth..."

I remember that day very well.

I was at the beach with my parents and my sister's family for the week. I woke up that morning hearing my Mother turn on the small TV in my room. "Time to get up," she said. "Look! Some dummy crashed a plane into the World Trade Center! Can you believe that?"

The first plane had already hit the North Tower, and none of us really gave it too much thought I guess. Just another crazy ass day in New York.

Walking into the kitchen I sat down with my niece, who had just turned four, and I poured a bowl of Lucky Charms. My nephew was sound asleep in his crib not quite a year old. My Dad was reading the paper and my sister and brother-in-law were watching The Today Show. Interestingly, even the news treated the burning North Tower as a gee whiz kind of story going back and forth to it with weather and politics.

And then the second plane hit the South Tower.

"This is terrorism!" my sister screamed.

Then reports of the Pentagon being hit came on the screen. A bomb the media first reported was detonated inside our military chief headquarters, but then it was revealed not a bomb but Flight 77...a third plane.

"John," my Mother said tearfully, "what's going on?" My dad glared at the TV. "I don't know," he said.

Then there were reports of another plane. Another plane? How many planes did these guy's hijack? Who are these people? But this plane crashed in a large field in Pennsylvania. Why? What happened? Where was it going? The White House? The Capitol? And probably the most important question Are there anymore?

The rest of the story is just like yours. I watched people burn to death. I watched a man and a woman hold hands and jump out of a window hundreds and hundreds of feet up. I watched the Towers fall. I watched brave men perish. I watched my Mother and Sister cry. I watched my Dad go out on the deck and stare at the beach...

...but that's not all I remember. I remember this on TV too.



I remember seeing people celebrate, laugh, dance, smile and burn my flag on TV. 3000 of my own people were dead and this is what I'm seeing. The media quickly went into gear calling this a knee-jerk reaction.



Lost that whole day was my niece. She didn't understand what was going on...hell who did? She knew something bad had happened and that's why we couldn't go to Jungleland to go play minature golf today.

My sister tried to explain what happened.

"A lot of people were hurt and killed today, do you understand?"

She shook her head yes. "Did all the people who died today are they all going to heaven," my niece said.

"Yes, yes they are."

"Then everything is OK Mommy."

Ladder 49 (Touchstone Pictures 2004)

Great conservative flick...and a timely one too considering September 11th is only days away! I don't believe Ladder 49 is a true story, but I can almost guarantee their have or will be families of firemen who have gone through similar struggles.

Like the 18 year old kid who picks up a gun and travels across the world to defend you and me...firemen also take on a merciless and unpredictable enemy that threatens our lives. To be honest, I take firemen for granted. It's only when I really, REALLY need them am I 100% grateful.

Ladder 49 is a great film, and I hope you will take the time to check it out soon. Here is a movie review from IMDb...

Under the watchful eye of his mentor Captain Mike Kennedy, probationary firefighter Jack Morrison matures into a seasoned veteran at a Baltimore fire station. Jack has reached a crossroads, however, as the sacrifices he's made have put him in harm's way innumerable times and significantly impacted his relationship with his wife and kids. Responding to the worst blaze in his career, he becomes trapped inside a 20-story building. And as he reflects on his life, now Assistant Chief Kennedy frantically coordinates the effort to save him.

Here is the trailer...

World Trade Center (Paramount 2006)

When I first heard that Oliver Stone was making a film about 9/11 my first reaction, like so many other conservative movie goers, was Great, that should be a George Bush Bash Fest! A friend of mine assured me that Stone was not making the film to attack Bush but to tell a true story from that horrible day.

World Trade Center is the third film about 9/11 on ECM (United 93, Path to 9/11 being the other two) . I highly recommend anyone to watch all three! You won't regret it, I promise you! Below is a summary from the film I found on Internet Movie Database. I think this guy summed up the movie better than I could!

In the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster, hope is still alive. Refusing to bow down to terrorism, rescuers and family of the victims press forward. Their mission of rescue and recovery is driven by the faith that under each piece of rubble, a co-worker, a friend a family member may be found. This is the true story of John McLoughlin and William J. Jimeno, two of the last survivors extracted from Ground Zero and the rescuers who never gave up. It's a story of the true heroes of that fateful time in the history of the United States when buildings would fall and heroes would rise, literally from the ashes to inspire the entire human race.

Rent it folks! Again, you won't be sorry you did!



Nicholas Cage does a great job in this film...he even speaks Spanish!

United 93 (Universal 2006)

I'm 32 years old and I can say quite frankly that United 93 is the greatest American story ever told to my generation. It belongs with the classics we all learned in our history books...Valley Forge, The Alamo, Gettysburg, D-Day, Iwo Jima, United 93...period.

What makes this story more remarkable than any other story in our country's history is that these were common citizens that rose up together to fight evil. They weren't at war with anyone, they didn't train together, hell they didn't even know each other...but they recorded a significant first victory against terror that day.

I remember when this film was released and some people said it will just make people mad all over again. If this you, do your country a favor...

Get mad all over again.

Path to 9/11 (ABC 2006)

We conservatives have an old saying.

If you want to piss us off, lie to us.

If you want to piss off a
liberal, tell him the truth.

That's exactly what the Path to 9/11 did in 2006...it told the truth and pissed off a lot of Dems. In my own personal opinion, it didn't paint a great picture of either the Bush or Clinton administrations. What this motion picture did have to say is we basically failed to act, and over 3000 of our own died because of it.

I'm not sure if this movie is available yet on DVD, but if it is I strongly advise for you to rent it.

This scene takes place at the Northern Alliance Base Camp where US ally Ahmad Shāh Mas'ūd is requesting more help from the Americans to attack Osama Bin-Laden and the Al-Qaeda training camp.

Ahmad Shāh Mas'ūd was assassinated by Al-Qaeda 2 days before 9/11.




The 9/11 hijackers arrive at the Al-Qaeda camp.