This is not a day of service. It’s a day of remembrance.

We remember the innocent souls that never made it back home that day. We remember those brave men and women who responded to their nation’s call.  Most of all, we remember that freedom isn’t free.

I was sitting in a military command post that day, not knowing where it would end, but sensing life would never be the same. I didn’t get home ’till 10:30 that night, but the wife and my preschoolers were still up. The kids asked me if I saw what had happened. Then they asked me if I was sad. “No,” I replied, “just mad.”

We take off our shoes at the airport now, but we’ll still be enjoying our women, our booze and our pork bbq. Meanwhile, Osama and his woman-fearing, homoerotic cohort crouch down in their angry, shit-smeared hell holes, plotting to set the world on fire because their life sucks…

Now, here’s a beautiful 9/11 song about the New York Firefighters, “The Bravest,” by Tom Paxton…

Now every time I try to sleep
I’m haunted by the sound,
Of firemen pounding up the stairs
While we were coming down.

Picture is by LuFrank of Quito, Ecuador and is part of the foutsc art collection