911

None of us will forget where we were or what we were doing when those planes hit the twin towers. All I remember feeling was a sense of absolute detachment at first, like it really couldn't be happening, that is until my Dad called and we both said almost simultaneously "They did it didn't they? They really did it!".
As soon as I got off of the phone with Dad it hit me, and then the anger came, absolute rage, I wanted payback and I wanted it as soon as possible. So I grabbed my 3 year old son Elijah and headed out the door looking for  an Army recruitment center, hell I didn't care which service, I just knew that I wanted to be in combat on the ground putting rounds through those guys friends in the worst possible way.
I eventually ended up in Fairfield, CA about 15 miles from our home in Napa. By the time I arrived it was still before noon, there was a line out the door pouring out into the parking lot, so I took Elijah in my arms and got into line. Pretty soon a lady in a Marine uniform came out and said she was thankful that we were all there but to keep from wasting our time she started going down the list of ailments or infirmities that would keep us from even making it through the early stages. I waited for it, "Back surgeries of any kind ...", my heart sank. I asked "Even minor ones?", she replied " ....of any kind sir." I stepped out of line after holding my son close for what seemed like minutes, looking into his blue-green eyes and thinking to myself that if I didn't go now that he would have to go one day.
And that fear I felt on that terrible day stays with me to this day, my son will have to fight this battle and there's not a  damn thing I can do about it, except push him to be the best, a Navy Seal, or some type of Tier One Operator, so he's surrounded by the best. A morbid wish to be sure but he is my son and he get's just as mad as I do when I see the attacks played out on TV every year. Maybe he can fly F-22's (wouldn't that be cool!) but I know that he like me will want to be delivering the hurt on our enemies not just standing by.
Serving in the military is an honorable duty in my eyes, but I'm not naive, I know that all human organizations, especially ones affiliated with the government, are prone to be filled with people in places of power who have no idea what they are doing or at the very least shouldn't be giving orders to anyone. I can only pray that Elijah is spared that if he chooses to indeed serve. At the rate we're going he like his grandfather may not have a choice and be drafted. Let us pray that it is never so.