To all my dearest friends and family,
It would appear that my annual Veteran's Day messages (as well as the occasional Memorial Day and Flag Day messages) have become quite popular. My brother Rob always drops me a note to remind me how much he is looking forward to reading it.

Last week he dropped me a note asking if he could look forward to a message on Patriot Day, September 11, 2002. I replied that I had been thinking about writing one and then I just sat there... and sat there... and sat there.

What could I possibly have to say on the one year anniversary of the murders of over three thousand of my fellow Americans? What would I say? How could I even come close to putting down in words the feelings I have? I am just thankful that my kids were too young to even know what was going on that day. I couldn't explain it to myself, let alone a child.

I remember sitting there, crowded around a little 5" television with my coworkers watching the events as they played out. I remember going to my office, shutting the door, sitting at my desk and putting my head in my hands and crying out loud.

Our company closed early that day and at home I sat waiting for my wife and son to come home - it seemed like an eternity. When they arrived, before they even got out of the car my wife and I embraced and cried.

Like many Americans, we went to church that evening. No mass was held, just silent prayer time to be alone with God. As I came out of the church carrying my son, I stood in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary and wept - in my mind's eye I am sure I saw Her, her Son and our Father weeping as well. Bobby, then less than a year and a half old, looked at me with a rather worried look and kissed me.

That is when the anger set in.... To think that in an instant someone could take him from me or me from him. To think that I could never see my (then) unborn daughter's face. To leave for work one day in a rush not taking the time properly say goodbye and never be given the chance to do so again. I thought of those who lost their loved ones that day and wished those that were responsible roast in hell.

I watched the President of this Great Nation address us that night, with tears in his eyes, trying to reassure a country shaken.

"These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.

"A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.

"America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. "

I watched, and cried, as our National Anthem was played across this country and across the world at Buckingham Palace, on the streets of Paris, and at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. I watched the U.S. Congress stand on the steps of the Capitol Building and sing God Bless America.

We heard the stories of the heroes of that day...

The firemen and police officers who rushed to the scene and helped those in need, many sacrificing their own lives in the process. The office workers who helped their friends and co-workers down dozens and dozens of flights of stairs. The steel workers who helped to search the rubble of the buildings their fathers had built. The heroes on United Flight 93 who with the simple words, "Let's roll," battled their hijackers and ultimately sacrificed their own lives to save countless others on the ground. The soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who dragged their compatriot's bodies from the rubble of the Pentagon.

History will be the ultimate judge of our actions that day and the time since. Certainly September 11, 2001 will be remembered as one of the saddest days in our history but it is my sincerest wish that it will also be remembered as one of this country's proudest.

Yes, this nation was bloodied as we have never been before. But, there is a world of difference between making us bloody, and making us fall. Japan was taught this lesson almost 61 years ago now, the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought a battle to our shores with such monumental pain.

When roused, we are righteous in our courage, terrible in force. When provoked, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length in the pursuit of justice.

Admiral Yamamoto of the Japanese Imperial Navy, immediately after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, is quoted as having said, "We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve."

As then, we are now a giant awakened and as we have shown over the past year, may their God save those who would do this Great Nation harm.

Lady Liberty may have stumbled but she has NEVER fallen.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
--Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

God bless you all and God bless America!

T