[ SHOWGSD-L ] My son writes about yesterday

From: EJDegen@xxxxxxx
To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 2 May 2011 08:54:06 EDT
From my son Jim Degen (the "almost Senior" at West  Point):  
 
Almost 10 years ago one man led the most  devastating terrorist attacks on 
American soil that we've ever seen. We felt  utter shock and pain from the 
deaths of family, friends, and fellow citizens.  Since that day, we've 
unified as a country, further developed an American  identity to be proud of, 
and 
then fallen victim to political bickering and  cynicism.  Tonight, if the 
rest of the country is  reacting in the manner that we've been celebrating at 
the United States Military  Academy, then we've finally come full circle. 
For just a short amount of time,  let's forget about petty party politics, 
...let's forget  about the many controversial happenings of the last few years, 
let's forget  about any personal feelings for people such as George Bush, 
Barack Obama, Sarah  Palin, etc., and remember that we are all Americans, 
united by something  intangible that is stronger than words could possibly 
express. Hug your  neighbor, share a beer, tell your fellow Americans that you 
love them. Mostly,  take a moment and dedicate it to the fallen. Think of the 
3000 people who died  on September 11th, the 4000 American soldiers who 
answered the call to serve and  lost their lives in the War, and the Afghanis 
and Iraqis who have seen nothing  but war for the last ten years. If you are 
religious, say a prayer for them. Say  a prayer for people like my father, 
who are currently deployed in Afghanistan  and will be dealing with scores of 
furious, revenge-seeking insurgents. I thank  God that there are people in 
this country like my father, my cousins, and my  friends who responded to 
those horrific attacks by sacrificing the best years of  their lives to serve 
the United States of America; it feels wonderful to know  that in under a 
year and a half I'll have the honor to join their ranks. There  are few events 
in our lives that are so momentous that you remember exactly  where we were 
and what we were doing when it happened. Learning of the 9/11  attacks was 
absolutely one of them, and now I believe we have another such  event. Never 
forget what you were doing or how you felt on this day. Everything  about 
the last few hours has made me proud to be an American. I'm overflowing  with 
pride for our country, our soldiers, my parents, grandparents, aunts,  
uncles, cousins, friends, and fellow citizens. I love all of you, good  night.

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[ SHOWGSD-L ] My son writes about yesterday

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