I was a young child when the Vietnam War ended and didn't really understand what it was all about. My daughter's father, Jim Byrd, was actually in the Navy at the end of the Vietnam war. He was just a 19 or 20 year old kid!! His dear Mother, told me she lived in fear back then that her Son would be sent to Vietnam. Thankfully, it never happened. If I am remembering correctly, Jim was on the runway about to take off headed to Vietnam when the war was stopped!
My dear grandmother, Enola Crouch, lost a son during World War II, my Uncle Clif Crouch!! I don't remember Pa Crouch ever speaking of my Uncle Clif or WWII. However, he did tell stories about being in WWI. I remember him telling me about riding his Harley motorcycle from Alabama to Maryland. He apparently loved his motor cycle and named his 2nd son Clifton Harley Crouch. Mama Crouch would NEVER watch anything on television that had to do with war!! I can't imagine the heartbreak my Grandparents suffered when they lost Uncle Clif during WWII. I guess that is where I developed my fear of war. Also, I've been a vivid dreamer my entire life and I've been chased in my dreams by the WWII Nazi Germans!! I've had someone suggest to me that perhaps I may have lived before as a Jew back in those times!! Don't know about that, but these dreams were going on as early in my life as I can remember!!
I clearly remember Desert Storm and how terrified I was. My daughter was a baby and I was scared to death for our Country. Fortunately, it was a very quick war and I was able to put it behind me and feel safe in the USA. When 9/11 happened it changed my life forever and I'm sure the rest of America feels the same way!! It has had a dramatic effect on my children who were 13 and 3 at the time, especially my little boy. Jordan is now terrified of war and has a horrible fear of having to fight in a war. As the Mother of a boy, I am terrified my son will have to fight in a war one day. I pray that America never has to start drafting our young men for war!!
The day of 9/11 I was in shock as I'm sure the rest of our Great Nation was. I think I was a zombie for at least two weeks as I stayed glued to the television. I can't remember exactly how long it was after 9/11 that the military planes started flying over my house at night. I remember the first time it happened was during the middle of the night and we all woke up terrified and ran outside to look up in the sky. I'll never forget the look of terror on Enola's face (she was 13 at the time). It seems like there were a hundred planes, but I'm sure it was much less!! The noise was deafening!! I felt as if my nightmares were coming true and it definitely reinforced my feeling that our lives would never be the same in the USA! I've lost count of how many times I woke up to the sound of those military planes flying overhead, but I will never forget the feeling of terror!! After 9/11 going to an airport was kind of spooky and scary. I couldn't believe I was seeing soldiers with guns policing the airports. I was nearly strip searched because I forgot my pill box was in my bra with my days medication!! I was ready to run out of the airport screaming at the top of my lungs!!
It's hard to believe 9/11 was ten years ago today!! I find myself once again glued to the television with tears in my eyes just thinking of what all our country has been through. The young men and women of our country who lost parents in the Twin Towers.... hearing them speak 10 years later about their loss is heartbreaking! The parents who lost children.... The men and women who lost their spouses to 9/11. Now, all our military men and women that have lost their lives!! It's almost too difficult for my tender heart to think about.
Enola and I are going to New York City for five days in December. We are planning on visiting Ground Zero and paying our respects to our fallen brothers and sisters. I know it will be a very emotional experience. I've not been to NYC since 9/11 and can't imagine the Twin Towers not being there!
Have all of you felt dramatically changed since 9/11? Have you lost that comfortable feeling that the USA is untouchable? Do you perhaps feel safer because of Homeland Security?? I would really love to hear from all of you about how 9/11 has affected your life and the lives of your loved ones!! Thanks to all of you for reading my ramblings!! I love and appreciate each and everyone of you!
Sincerely,
Nanette
P.s. My daughter Enola is named after my grandmother, Enola Crouch. My brother, Clif Crow, is named after my Uncle, Clif Crouch!
how sad yet i sit an wonder how could USA become so vulnerable has our government let us down YES IT HAS!!! BY ALLOWING ILLEGAL'S TO COME INTO THIS COUNTRY THAT OUR FOREFATHER FOUGHT TO KEEP SAFE HMM I THINK OUR LOUSY GOVERNMENT ARE SO OVERPAID THEY FORGOT ABOUT THE LITTLE PEOPLE THEY HAD TO STEP ON TO GET WHERE THEY ARE I AGREE WITH YOU 100% NAN
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about your terror following 9-11 when the aircraft was flying constantly. I have a military family, both my family and my husband's and to me the sound of military aircraft is the sound of freedom. We were on Pikes Peak on 9-11 fishing. It is so very painful to think of how our country has wandered so far from what the founders envisioned. Our present government appears intent upon turning us into a third world country. I pray that never happens. Congress has forgotten they are only civil servants, not tin gods.
ReplyDeleteI actually grew up close to Redstone Arsenal and can remember playing out in the yard as a kid and hearing the booms and feeling the earth shake. That never bothered me. I agree that our government is all screwed up!! Perhaps Congress should have term limits, but that will not happen because they will never vote in law that would limit their time in Congresst. Our world is changing and we need people in Congress who maybe have new ideas and thoughts on how to get our Nation back to the way it should be!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading my blog and posting a comment. I hope that you will continue to do so!!
Nanette
Term limits will solve a lot of problems.
ReplyDelete