United 93

Excuse me while I get something off of my chest.

"The 9/11 hijackers are bastard cowards who took the easy way out. No mess, no fuss and no answering questions and no way for retribution. I hope all of their 72 virgins have syphilis."

Harsh? Damn straight. Muhammad Atta and his 18 thugs deserve even more than I can dish out. I have no doubt that even their God, Allah, condemned them all to Muslim Hell for that cowardly act. Of course I will celebrate the day that head Bastard Coward Osama bin Laden departs to the regions of Muslim Hell as well. If dying is such the "in thing to do in the Muslim terrorist world", you would think bin Laden would have been the first. I mean to hear them, they just can't wait for their 72 virgins. If bin Laden was a real man, he would come out of his cave on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border and fight. (Guess he remembers Tora Bora) But no, only a coward hides and gets others to do their dirty work. Bastard Coward.

Now my opinion has nothing to do with the just released United 93 film. I have had that opinion since September 11, 2001. The release of the film just gives me another opportunity to say it.

And on the subject of the film, yes, I have seen it. I saw it Friday night. I had mixed feelings about seeing it. At first I thought it was too early for such a film, and I had no desire to see it. But the more I thought about it and heard others who had seen previews of it, at the last minute, I decided to go. Now I have several DVD's of 9/11. In Memoriam, New York City, 9/11/2001 the HBO film and the French documentary film that aired on CBS, 9/11 and of course I think I have seen every A&E, Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel program on 9/11 for the past 5 years so I think I have gotten my fill and every angle of that terrible day. Now not that I want to forget that day, far from it. We need to remember the feelings we had that day, keep them close and perseverance until the extremists are gone. Too much and you become numb. DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.

I saw Todd Beamer's father on a Friday morning talk show talking about how the families of United 93 want this story told now and how they are pleased with the outcome of the film and they desperately do not want us to become complacent. I later heard a radio talking head say he had seen an advanced showing and even though it was rated R and made you feel like you were on the plane, it handled the subject in such a way that it put many questions he still had into perspective and when you finished seeing the movie, you would be reminded why we have to get bin Laden.

Well it does just that. The whole movie does not take place on the airplane, but you see how things lead up to the point of the hijacking and what the passengers are thought to have done and how the people on the ground handled it. While there is some language and some blood, it is quite tame compared to what you might see on television.

To me the strangest thing is that the movie never names the people on the plane. They interact with each other just like you would see on a real plane flight. It is very conceivable that we the public now know more of the names of the passengers on United 93 than they did. If you know the story, it is very easy to spot who is who. Todd Beamer is one of the first people you recognize on the plane with his rugby shirt that you see him wear in many photos. Greensboro native Flight Attendant Sandy Bradshaw can't be missed either with her name embroidered on her uniform.

These people knew they were going to die and if that was going to happen, they intended to go out fighting and not be the lambs to the slaughter. No one panicked, they all focused on what had to be done. Of course we all know that, but the movie really drives that point home. I have always said if I was in that same position, I too would want to have some say in the time and place.

In the past when I have discussed with military people I know about Flight 93 and all have said that they are proud of what the passengers of United 93 did. It showed how the "citizen solder" was indeed an American concept and far from dead and no matter what they did as solders, would never measure up to the bravery and decisive measures the passengers took. Several have said that in their eyes, the passengers of United 93 are the true hero's in the War on Terrorism, not them and they are proud to serve the American people because of United 93's sacrifice.

Go see this movie and more importantly, don't let their sacrifice go in vain. Never forget 9/11.