Patriot Day - A Day of Remembrance

Eleven years ago, wolves attacked our sheep in the World Trade Center Twin Towers, our sheepdogs in the Pentagon, and on Flight 93, sheep became sheepdogs as several rose to the challenge and attacked the terrorists, bringing their plane down near Shanksville, PA.



 This blog is dedicated to those who protect others, especially children, and today is a special day for all Sheepdogs.  Many gave the ultimate sacrifice that day.

Rick Rescorla was the Ultimate Sheepdog.  He was a highly decorated soldier of two armies, and was serving as the Vice President of Security for Morgan-Stanley/Dean-Witter, the largest tenant in the World Trade Center.  He doggedly drilled his people in evacuating the WTC, and on that fateful day, sang Welsh battle songs and guided his people to safety.   Following the Infantry Creed of 'Leave No Man Behind', he and three others went back up the Tower to make sure no one was left behind.  The Tower come down on them, killing them.

Then there was Flight 93.  Mark Bingham was a rugby player, he’s 6'5.  A big, physically fit guy.  Then there was Jeremy Glick, who was another six-footer. When he was in college, he was the national collegiate junior judo championship.  Lou Nacke was a weightlifter: at 5’9, he was 200 lbs. of muscle and had a Superman tattoo on his shoulder.  Japanese student Toshiya Kuge played American football; he was a linebacker.  Richard Guadagno, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manager, was trained in hand-to-hand combat.  Flight attendant CeeCee Lyles was a former cop.  Todd Beamer, as it was ready to happen said, ‘You ready?  Ok.  Let’s roll.’

As Jane Pauley writes, "In other words, Flight 93 could very well have gotten to Washington, to the U.S. Capitol, perhaps, or at the very least a well-populated area, if the passengers and crew hadn’t done what they did.

We will never know exactly which passengers and crew waged that counterattack, which ones reached the cockpit, and whether any of them could have stopped the plane from going down.

It doesn’t matter.

We do know that because of their collective courage, hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives were saved.   They were all of them real heroes; they’ll be remembered in many different ways."



How do we remember them?  We strive to make our lives worthy of their sacrifice.  We strive to be Sheepdogs, protecting others from the wolves in our lives.  We work to put the well-being of others ahead of our own, with our lives, if necessary.

On September 11, rededicate yourself to being a Sheepdog, and remember these brave Sheepdogs who went before us.

Live the motto, "Non in Meus Vigilo!"  (Not on my watch!)

Never forget.

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