Ten years ago, 2, 997 people lost their lives at the hands of 19 Islamic hijackers wielding four airplanes as weapons against the towers at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and at a field in Pennsylvania. We are heavily invested in two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as a result of that attack. Neither of those nations were the prime supporters of the hijackers. While those wars may be justified (or not), and ultimately successful (or not), we have a job left undone … probably due to pathological political and religious correctness. The “good news”, such as it is, is that the real enemy of Western civilization, Islam, does not suffer from political correctness, and will attack again, and again, until we wake up and wipe that problem off this planet. Of that latter solution, I am sure (someday).
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Our deepest condolences to the families and units of these fallen warriors:
- Spc. Christopher J. Scott, 21, of Tyrone, New York, died Sept. 3 at Kandahar province, Afghanistan of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.
- Pfc. Christophe J. Marquis, 40, of Tampa, Florida, died Sept. 4 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany,of injuries sustained Aug. 27 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.
- James W. Coker, 59, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was pronounced dead Sept. 5 in Kabul, Afghanistan, while on temporary assignment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- Spc. Kevin R. Shumaker, 24, of Livermore, California, died Aug. 31 in a stateside hospital of a non-combat related illness.
- Cmdr. James K. Crawford, 50, of East Concord, New York, died Sept. 7, as a result of a non-combat related incident in Manama, Bahrain.
- Spc. Koran P. Contreras, 21, of Lawndale, Calif., died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device Sept. 8 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
- Pfc. Douglas J. Jeffries Jr., 20, of Springville, California, died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device Sept. 8 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
- Sgt. Bret D. Isenhower, 26, of Lamar, Oklahoma, died Sept. 9 in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
- Spc. Christopher D. Horton, 26, of Collinsville, Oklahoma, died Sept. 9 in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
- Pfc. Tony J. Potter Jr., 20, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, died Sept. 9 in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
- Petty Officer Brian K. Lundy, 25, of Austin, Texas, died while conducting a dismounted patrol in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Sept. 9.
