What are you guys looking at?
There was a crowd around the TV in the lobby at the headquarters for the Florida Department of Corrections in Tallahassee, as I walked in. On the screen I could see a burning building, and ask what was going on. Someone told me a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in New York City. Someone else said it was an airliner. Another said that they thought it was terrorists. Remembering the bombing in 93, I said that they sure don’t like that building, and I sure hope it was an empty plane. Little did I know!
I was on a task force to develop a special tool cart, and procedures for the inmates to use on the prison compound to perform minor maintenance. Security had changed over the last dozen years regarding inmate tool usage, but the need for inmate labor remained and we needed some guidelines to operate with. We tried to get started, but the talk kept coming back to the World Trade Center. It wasn’t long before someone walked in and said that a second plane had crashed into the second tower. We left to find a TV. Word came down that they were worried about the safety of Governor Bush, the president’s brother, and we all may have to leave. Rumors were flying. Then the towers fell and our hearts sank to our stomachs.
How can anyone forget that day? Our country has had a few of those kinds of days and it is a shame, (Remember December 7, 1941?). I for one believe we are the greatest country in the world, and do not understand the hatred. There is nothing you can tell me that will change that. Sure we have made our mistakes. We have been involved in wars and places that maybe we shouldn’t have. I have often questioned my two tours in Vietnam, but I have no doubt that I would do it all over again. Such is my loyalty to this great country.
So, I woke up this morning thinking how I’m lucky to be an American. In this world of instant info on the internet, people who truly seek freedom, know that by what they read, that we are truly blessed, and they long for the same opportunity. The ones that trash our country don’t count. Rather than wanting the freedom to pursue the American Dream, they would rather just take ours away. I will not however, give them any more thought, but rather reflect on why I love this country, our Constitution, our flag, and our national anthem.
This country has rushed to the aid of nearly every country on earth in their time of need, yet we are still hated. I simply cannot wrap my brain around that. Sure, some of it has been misguided and we are paying for that today. However, that aid has done more good than bad. I said that I would not dwell on the haters, so I will just pray that someday that will change, so that my children and their kids will know a time of real peace. Surely God has blessed us and it is up to us to be worthy of that blessing. Thank you God for my America…
David Butler
September 11, 2016
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