Airman reflects on personal loss in 'massacre' Published Oct. 17, 2006 By Lt. Col. Don Arias Air Forces Northern Public Affairs director TYNDALL AFB, Fla. -- More than 3,000 people were massacred in the Sept. 11 attacks. I say "massacre" because although tragic, this was no "tragedy" or "accident" or "act of God." It was an insane, blood-thirsty massacre of non-combatants - defenseless men, women and children were intended targets. We all remember where we were when we heard the terrible news. I was at work participating in a North American Aerospace Defense Command exercise. Most people assumed it must have been an accident that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. But I received notification from our Northeast Air Defense Sector in New York that there was a hijacking. Was the hijacked plane the one that hit the North Tower? We weren't sure. My thoughts were with my younger brother who was on the 84th floor of the South Tower. I called Adam in his office and shared our final conversation. In that two-minute phone call he told me of the terrible sights he saw from his window - of men and women jumping to their deaths from the North Tower rather than suffering certain incineration. He told me of desperate people at their windows contemplating that terrible choice - jump or burn. I speculated it was the suspected hijacked aircraft that caused the life or death, human drama to unfold before my brother's eyes. Over the phone, I heard the commotion of people looking out of the window and I listened to their all-too-human responses as they watched fellow human beings leap to their deaths. I heard the urgency in my brother's voice, too. His last words to me were, "I gotta go now..." As he hung up the phone I quickly responded,"Go home." I don't know if he heard me. I never talked to my brother again. Then came the second crash - and with it, the terrible confirmation that this was no accident, this was an attack. Our NORAD exercise ended and we were in "real-world ops." When another airliner slammed into the southwest side of the Pentagon minutes later, it was clear this was a coordinated and organized attack on our country, our government and our very way of life. Airliners that normally carry families and business travelers became deadly guided missiles aimed at the symbols of our democracy. Todd Beamer and his fellow passengers on Flight 93 challenged the terrorists who commandeered their plane. Their final words before they took on the terrorists have become a rallying cry for all of us: "Let's roll!" When Flight 93 slammed into a field in Pennsylvania instead of the terrorists' intended target, we knew all on that flight were lost. When my brother didn't come home from work that night, I knew in my heart he was gone, too. The patriots of Sept. 11 were our mothers and fathers, our sisters and brothers, our sons and daughters. They were our friends, our colleagues, our loved ones. And we mourn the loss of each and every one of them because, unlike the enemies of America, we value every human life. Because we cannot forget the images of 9/11, we need to remember we are a nation at war. We cannot forget the stories of courage and heroism, of brother firefighters who ran up the stairs of the towering inferno while others scrambled to get out. I will never forget the courage my brother Adam showed as he assisted rescuers leading people to safety. Nor will I ever forget the terrible price he paid for being an American. We can only imagine the many other stories of courage and heroism that will never be told - because none lived to tell it. We should never forget the videotaped images of the terrorists who laughed at our loss, or the spontaneous street celebrations of freedom-hating fanatics. The agents of evil who crashed those planes hate America. They hate us not for what we've done, but for what we stand for: Our belief in self-determination, freedom and justice, and the right to govern ourselves. As Americans, we must all fight for our right to live in safety and security. As vice president of operations for an international trading firm, my brother was part of the great American economic engine. His agenda was not politics, religion or ideology - it was prosperity and freedom. He was light-hearted, determined, smart and talented. I'll never forget his easy way and infectious laugh. And I will never forget why he died. The terrorists wanted to topple the U.S. government the way they took down the Twin Towers. They wanted to cripple our military power by attacking the Pentagon. They did not succeed. They failed because America is more than just buildings, more than any one company or institution and more than any loved one they could kill. The terrorists may have brought down symbols of our greatness, but America's strength is built on so much more than buildings and people. America is built on ideas, hopes and dreams that we have cherished for generations. The terrorists will never understand these concepts. This was our generation's "Pearl Harbor," an unprovoked attack on our way of life. More than 2,800 people lost their lives in the towers that day. But so many more lives were affected. The lives of the families, friends and colleagues left behind. To them we say, "We will never forget." Today, terrorists seek weapons of mass destruction. If unchecked, we could be talking casualty figures in the millions. As members of the Armed Forces, we have a sacred duty to prevent that from happening. The war on fanatical fascism is a war we simply must win. Our nation was transformed by the massacre of 9/11, and so must we transform our committment to defending our country. We must never forget the heroes of Sept. 11 or our uniformed brothers and sisters who are fighting far from home to keep us free. We must stay focused like never before on the fact that we are fighting a war that we dare not lose. As we observe the fifth anniversary of 9/11, let's remember President Bush's vow, which is worth repeating: "We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."