On the night of September 11th (15 hours ahead) I was in a bar in Korea shooting pool with a buddy and his girlfriend. The television was in Korean and the bottom line was Korean. The conversation between us was typical. "That sucks." "That whole building is on fire." "That is the World Trade Center dude." I am not sure how live it was, but we saw the second plane hit the tower and goosebumps ran up my back. No less that 5 minutes later the infamous recall siren sounded. An MP and a Korean national police officer said "The state's are under attack, get your asses back." We sprinted to the gate, which already had armor and firepower fitted. We make our way in and are sprinting again..the sirens still blasting, I think to myself "holy shit they attacked us..."
For 62 days we sat on guard duty in shifts, arrested 4 Turks and 3 Saudis who were assholes. Just north of us they shot the hell out of an Pakistani guy. For what? Why react to getting caught with our backs turned? Why bomb a country that doesn't play by the rules? The same reason we don't speak German or Japanese now. The same reason we are not under Spanish rule. The Same reason we dumped tea to avoid illegal taxes. This was the correct way to react.
Aside from a short stint of driving truck for about 4 months, I've had a flag on my uniform shirt since that day. I assume I always will. I have to serve. I serve out of want, need, duty, and covering down because the fact is some won't or can't serve.
I have not watched a 9/11 special since about 2005 or so. I get so mad/upset that it wrecks my week. "Never forget" is a lame slogan. I can't forget. I watched the folks jumping from hell to hell. I saw the buildings fall with thousands of people in it. I saw the bodies and the fires. I saw the names. "Never stand for anything that jeopardizes the patriotism of the country ever again" is a good slogan. Kiss your wife (husband or some loved one) each day, hug and cherish your kids, and remember the pit you felt in your stomach when you saw that plane explode in an office building with thousands of workers inside...get that out in your stomach, hang a flag on your house, shake a firefighter's hand, wave at a police officer, and be proud to be an American.