At Approximately 11:30 p.m. last night, president Barrack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda. Americans celebrated in the streets of Washington and New York live on national television as the world watched.
While we savor the bittersweet taste of this victory, let us remember those three thousand souls that were lost on September 11, 2001 and the thousands of service members who, since then, have sacrificed life and limb for the sake of protecting our citizens and our freedom.
Last night my husband, a two time combat veteran, asked me if I knew what we were fighting for over there. Of course I know why we continue to sacrifice daily in Iraq and Afghanistan and the world throughout, but I was curious to know what his response would be.
“What?” I asked.
He looked me straight in the eye and said, “we fight [terrorists] over there, so we don’t have to fight them here, period.”
It’s been 10 years, and I have never heard it so simply put. It brought tears to my eyes because it’s true.
“The American people did not choose this fight,” said the President. “It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war.”
The next time someone challenges why we continue this fight against terror or has the audacity to say that service members continue to die in vain, remind them that our children sleep soundly at night because we are taking the fight to terror.
Bin Laden’s death will not be the end of the war on terror, in fact the State Department issued a worldwide travel alert to Americans shortly after the presidential address. And a strong Taliban offensive isn’t far off in the minds of many service members.
“As a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed,” said the President. “We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are.”
Memorial Day is four weeks away. Let’s honor the American’s lost against the War on Terror at home and abroad in the last decade. May we never forget their sacrifices. And let us band together as we did in 2001 to support the men and women that continue to take the fight to the enemy.
Semper Fi .
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