Probably the most meaningful post I’ve done. If you don’t know who David Gamboa-Brandhorst is, he was a passenger aboard United Flight 175. And he was 3 years old.
I knew his father, who was my manager in 2001. That is, up until 9:03am on September 11, 2001. That’s because 6 seconds earlier, the 2nd plane slammed into the South Tower of the WTC, killing Ron Gamboa. David’s other father, Daniel Brandhorst, also perished with David and Ron; murdered in a senseless act of war and terrorism that some excuse as “blowback”. Uh-uh. “Blowback” is what al-Qaeda and Islamic radicals have been experiencing in the post-9/11 era.
Every time I see this image….
….and this…
….And others like it from countless angles, I am seeing the moment of death of someone I knew. And it makes me smoulder with rage and my heart tear up into my eyes to ponder what their final moments must have been like.
9/11 was a wake up call. President Bush was there to answer it, and has successfully protected America from another 9/11-style terror attack since that terrible day.
The following video (made by yours truly up into the wee hours of 3am this morning!) extends well beyond the events of 9/11 and includes the aftermath response of our efforts in Iraq.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…it’s Bruce Springsteen. What can I say? Liberals make great music.
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.