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From Rose

Date: Fri, Sep 21, 2001, 1:34pm (CDT-2)

This is worth sharing - an email friend sent
it to me ... And more important, Worth doing
if necessary. As the Israelis say about their
"Holocast, so should we say,,,"NEVER AGAIN"!!!

I just wanted to drop you all a note and let
you know that I arrived safe and sound into
Dulles Airport tonight at about 6:00. It was
an interesting flight.

The airport in Denver was almost spooky, it
was so empty and quiet. No one was in line
for the security check point when I got there
so that went fairly quickly, just x-ray of
my bags and then a chemical test to be sure
nothing explosive was on them. Then I waited
2 1/2 hours to board the plane. What
happened after we boarded was interesting
and thought I would share it with you.

The pilot/captain came on the loudspeaker
after the doors were closed. His speech
went like this: First I want to thank you
for being brave enough to fly today. The
doors are now closed and we have no help
from the outside for any problems that
might occur inside this plane.

As you could tell when you checked in,
the government has made some changes to
increase security in the airports. They have
not, however, made any rules about what
happens after those doors close. Until they
do that, we have made our own rules and I
want to share them with you.

Once those doors close, we only have each
other. The security has taken care of a
threat like guns with all of the increased
scanning, etc.

Then we have the supposed bomb. If you have
a bomb, there is no need to tell me about
it, or anyone else on this plane; you are
already in control. So, for this flight,
there are no bombs that exist on this plane.

Now, the threats that are left are things
like plastics, wood, knives, and other
weapons that can be made or things like
that which can be used as weapons.

Here is our plan and our rules. If someone
or several people stand up and say they
are hijacking this plane, I want you all
to stand up together. Then take whatever
you have available to you and throw it at
them.

Throw it at their faces, and heads so
they will have to raise their hands to
protect themselves. The very best
protection you have against knives are
the pillows and blankets. Whoever is close
to these people should then try to get a
blanket over their head--then they won't
be able to see. Once that is done, get
them down and keep them there. Do not let
them up. I will then land the plane at
the closest place and we WILL take care
of them.

After all, there are usually only a
few of them and we are 200 + strong! We
will not allow them to take over this plane.

I find it interesting that the US
Constitution begins with the words "We,
the people"-- that's who we are, "WE THE
PEOPLE" and we will not be defeated.
With that, the passengers on the plane
all began to applaud, people had tears
in their eyes, and we began the trip
toward the runway.

The flight attendant then began the
safety speech. One of the things she said
is that we are all so busy and live our
lives at such a fast pace. She asked that
everyone turn to their neighbors on either
side and introduce themselves, tell each
other something about your families and
children, show pictures, whatever. She
said "for today, we consider you family.
We will treat you as such and ask that you
do the same with us."

Throughout the flight we learned that for
the crew, this was their first flight
since Tuesday's tragedies. It was a day
that everyone leaned on each other and
together everyone was stronger than any
one person alone. It was quite an experience.

You can imagine the feeling when that plane
touched down at Dulles and we heard "welcome
to Washington Dulles Airport, where the local
time is 5:40". Again, the cabin was filled
with applause.

~GOD BLESS AMERICA~



Where Was God During This?"
Let me tell you.

He was there when the planes struck at
9 a.m., rather 10 a.m. when most of the
buildings would have been occupied.

He was there when people in the second
building felt the urges to get out
before the second plane struck.

He was there in the faces of the fire-
fighters, police officers and rescue
workers who acted as angels to help the
wounded and those who perished.

He was there in every church, synagogue
and place of worship when his Children
asked for healing and prayed for the victims.

He was there when one man descended from
the 82nd floor and escaped with only a
broken leg when the building collapsed.

He was there when for whatever reason,
people were delayed from arriving for work
on time, or when they missed one of the
four flights that perished and found
themselves on a different flight.

He was there to welcome into the Light
those who perished, and He found places
for them where there is no more suffering,
hurt or agony.

He was there when a woman and her feared-
dead husband were reunited on a New York
street corner amidst the chaos, crumbling
buildings and scrambling people.

He was there for the teacher on Long
Island, who received a bouquet of flowers
the day after the explosion. They were
from her missing son, saying thank you
for helping him move into the city. Could
it have been his soul's way of letting
her know he was OK?

He was there when the passengers on the
Pennsylvania plane decided to overtake the
hijackers. This could possibly have
prevented more destruction.

He was there when authorities found leads
on suspects and curbed further possible
problems when our airports reopened.

He was there when this national tragedy
reshaped America from a "me" society to
a "we" society.

He was there when the two youths assisted
the elderly man away from the buildings
before they crumbled.

He was there when the newscasters were
reporting the incidents so America could
see that in the midst of the tragedy, there
were people safe in New York and how
quickly the emergency teams responded.

He was there to inspire the candle light
vigils, the prayer services, the emotional
support services to help those traumatized,
and to see His children returning to Him
in His Houses across the country.

There is good in the world. And unfortunately,
there is evil.  That's part of the Free Will
given by the Creator.  But never think for a
moment that He would not be here with us
through it all. 

No matter how separated one may feel from God,
He never separates Himself from us.


AFTER THE TRAGEDY



Here is what Charlie Daniel's said about
the New York Attack.

The day after the terrorist attacks on
New York and Washington I was busy
answering e-mail when the shock wore
off enough for the enormity of the
events to truly dawn on me.   And I
wept, bitterly wept and cried out to
Almighty God in desperate prayer. I
was angry, confused and heartbroken
that our country had been attacked in
such a cowardly and heinous fashion.  
The loss of innocent life and the
destruction of three of America's most
recognizable icons was just almost too
much to bear. I have come to some
realizations concerning this tragedy
and I would like to share them with you.
They are my heartfelt feelings and I
believe what I will tell you with all
my heart.

Here I will put a warning to all of
you who are offended by the mention of
God's name and the defense of his
proper place in American society.
You'd best stop reading now. This nation has had the blessing of
God's covering which has won our wars,
prospered our economy and protected
our shores. We saw just a corner of
that covering lifted in New York and
Washington on the 11th of September,
and the results were catastrophic
beyond description.

Why has this happened? Why has a
nation which has enjoyed the
blessings of God for over two
hundred years suddenly experienced
such a catastrophe?

We've shaken our fists in God's face
for far too long. We have ignored His
laws, belittled His son, taken His
name in vain until it's almost a
national slang word. We have allowed
radical groups like the A.C.L.U. to
all but remove the name and reverence
for God from American society.

We have murdered untold millions of
unborn children and tolerated an
immoral president in the name of a
good economy.

We have proclaimed that homosexuality
is just another lifestyle when the
Bible clearly states that it is an
abomination to God.

We have encouraged illegitimate birth,
and condoned living together out of
wedlock, practiced racial prejudice
and child molestation, followed new age
religions and harebrained spiritual leaders.

Some of our music is fit for nothing but
a garbage can, we are surrounded by greedy
opportunists who would sink low enough
to use this tragedy for an excuse to
raise the price of gasoline to five
dollars a gallon. We allow our streets
to be inundated with punks who sell
death to our children in the form of drugs.

Politicians tell outright lies to further
their cause and waste our tax money on
frivolous programs which do nobody any
good. Our city streets are rampant with
violent crime, underpaid, overworked,
harried public prosecutors try to put
criminals in jail who are being
represented by attorneys wearing two
thousand dollar suits.

We can no longer travel this road people.
This road leads to hell. We can no longer
listen to the voices who preach division
and unbelief. We have to eradicate the
people who attacked us, not in vengeance
but in justice, and there is a difference.

Vengeance would be to drop an atomic bomb
on Afghanistan, justice is to take out
the guilty parties and everybody associated
with them. We must show the world that this
kind of behavior will not be tolerated by
a civilized nation.

But above all we must turn back to God.

We must clean up our national act.

God's word says that if His people called
by His name will pray and repent and
change their wicked ways that he will hear
from Heaven and heal their land. And this
land needs a lot of healing. And I beg you,
please don't paint everybody from the
Middle East with the same brush. The vast
majority of the Middle Eastern citizens
came to this country for the same reasons
our forefathers did, to escape repression
and have a better life. They deplore this
atrocity just as much as we all do. We can
no more hold them responsible than we could
hold people of German decent responsible
for the horrible things Hitler did. They
are citizens of this nation and deserve to
be treated accordingly. I sincerely urge
you to join me in sincere prayer for our
beloved nation.

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels



FROM KAREN ON SEPT:26/2001

Dear friends and fellow Americans

14 September, 2001

Like everyone else in this great country,
I am reeling from last week's attack on
our sovereignty. But unlike some, I am
not reeling from surprise.

As a career soldier and a student and
teacher of military history, I have a
different perspective and I think you
should hear it. This war will be won or
lost by the American citizens, not diplomats,
politicians or soldiers.

Let me briefly explain.

In spite of what the media, and even our
own government is telling us, this act was
not committed by a group of mentally
deranged fanatics. To dismiss them as such
would be among the gravest of mistakes.
This attack was committed by a ferocious,
intelligent and dedicated adversary. Don't
take this the wrong way. I don't admire
these men and I deplore their tactics, but
I respect their capabilities. The many
parallels that have been made with the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are apropos.
Not only because it was a brilliant sneak
attack against a complacent America, but
also because we may well be pulling our new
adversaries out of caves 30 years after we
think this war is over, just like my
father's generation had to do with the
formidable Japanese in the years following
WW II.

These men hate the United States with all
of their being, and we must not
underestimate the power of their moral
commitment. Napoleon, perhaps the world's
greatest combination of soldier and
statesman, stated "the moral is to the
physical as three is to one." Patton
thought the Frenchman underestimated
its importance and said moral conviction
was five times more important in battle
than physical strength. Our enemies are
willing - better said anxious -- to give
their lives for their cause. How committed
are we, America? And for how long?

In addition to demonstrating great moral
conviction, the recent attack demonstrated
a mastery of some of the basic fundamentals
of warfare taught to most military officers
worldwide, namely simplicity, security and
surprise. When I first heard rumors that
some of these men may have been trained at
our own Air War College, it made perfect
sense to me. This was not a random act of
violence, and we can expect the same sort
of military competence to be displayed in
the battle to come. This war will escalate,
with a good portion of it happening right
here in the good ol' U.S. of A.

These men will not go easily into the night.
They do not fear us. We must not fear them.

In spite of our overwhelming conventional
strength as the world's only "superpower"
(a truly silly term), we are the underdog
in this fight. As you listen to the
carefully scripted rhetoric designed to
prepare us for the march for war, please
realize that America is not equipped or
seriously trained for the battle ahead.
To be certain, our soldiers are much
better than the enemy, and we have some
excellent "counter-terrorist" organizations,
but they are mostly trained for hostage
rescues, airfield seizures, or the
occasional "body snatch," (which may
come in handy). We will be fighting a
war of annihilation, because if their
early efforts are any indication, our
enemy is ready and willing to die to the
last man.

Eradicating the enemy will be costly and
time consuming. They have already
deployed their forces in as many as 20
countries, and are likely living the
lives of everyday citizens. Simply put,
our soldiers will be tasked with a search
and destroy mission on multiple foreign
landscapes, and the public must be patient
and supportive until the strategy and
tactics can be worked out.

For the most part, our military is still
in the process of redefining itself and
presided over by men and women who grew
up with - and were promoted because they
excelled in - Cold War doctrine, strategy
and tactics. This will not be linear warfare,
there will be no clear "centers of gravity"
to strike with high technology weapons.
Our vast technological edge will certainly
be helpful, but it will not be decisive.

Perhaps the perfect metaphor for the coming
battle was introduced by the terrorists
themselves aboard the hijacked aircraft --
this will be a knife fight, and it will be
won or lost by the ingenuity and will of
citizens and soldiers, not by software or
smart bombs. We must also be patient with
our military leaders.

Unlike Americans who are eager to put this
messy time behind us, our adversaries have
time on their side, and they will use it.
They plan to fight a battle of attrition,
hoping to drag the battle out until the
American public loses its will to fight.
This might be difficult to believe in this
euphoric time of flag waving and patriotism,
but it is generally acknowledged that
America lacks the stomach for a long fight.

We need only look as far back as Vietnam,
when North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen
Giap (also a military history teacher)
defeated the United States of America
without ever winning a major tactical
battle. American soldiers who marched to
war cheered on by flag waving Americans in
1965 were reviled and spat upon less than
three years later when they returned.

Although we hope that Usama Bin Laden is
no Giap, he is certain to understand and
employ the concept. We can expect not
only large doses of pain like the recent
attacks, but also less audacious "sand in
the gears" tactics, ranging from livestock
infestations to attacks at water supplies
and power distribution facilities. These
attacks are designed to hit us in our
"comfort zone" forcing the average
American to "pay more and play less" and
eventually eroding our resolve. But it can
only work if we let it.

It is clear to me that the will of the
American citizenry - you and I - is the
center of gravity the enemy has targeted.
It will be the fulcrum upon which victory
or defeat will turn. He believes us to be
soft, impatient, and self-centered. He may
be right, but if so, we must change.

The Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz,
(the most often quoted and least read
military theorist in history), says that
there is a "remarkable trinity of war" that
is composed of the

(1) will of the people,
(2) the political leadership of the
government, and
(3) the chance and probability that
plays out on the field of battle, in
that order.

Every American citizen was in the crosshairs
of last Tuesday's attack, not just those
that were unfortunate enough to be in the
World Trade Center or Pentagon. The will
of the American people will decide this war.
If we are to win, it will be because we have
what it takes to persevere through a few
more hits, learn from our mistakes, improvise,
and adapt. If ! we can do that, we will
eventually prevail.

Everyone I've talked to In the past
few days has shared a common frustration,
saying in one form or another "I just
wish I could do something!" You are
already doing it. Just keep faith in
America, and continue to support your
President and military, and the outcome
is certain. If we fail to do so, the
outcome is equally certain.

God Bless America

Dr. Tony Kern, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)

Former Director of Military History,
USAF Academy