When I think of what life was like pre-9/11, it's so strange.  It seems like somehow life was simpler, different before 9/11.  I usually try not to think too much about it because so far in my life, that day remains one of the most terrifying I've seen.  It does not take much for those feelings to come forth all over again.

But it is so very important that we support our government in their attempts to protect us from Islamo Fascism or whatever you call it.  Whatever one's political persuasion, we must all stand together on this issue.

And so on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, we saw the first major theatrical release of a motion picture depicting that awful day.  

I approached the viewing of "Flight 93" with much dread.  While I wanted to know the complete story of the heroism that came to symbolize that flight and its passengers, I knew watching the film would bring up all the terrible, sickening emotions that surround that infamous day, September 11, 2001.

I fully expected the film to be at least slightly tainted with hidden agendas, or even political correctness, but was relieved to not be able to detect any such nonsense.  From beginning to end, it seemed the director simply wanted to tell the story of that flight, and nothing more.

As the film began, I found myself wondering what my grandmother must have felt the first time she watched a Hollywood movie depicting another awful day that lives in infamy, December 7, 1941.  Did she have the emotional dread that I now felt?  Did she, as I was now, find herself pondering what she was doing at the time, as each chronological moment in the film unfolded?  We all know exactly where we were and what we were doing at these historical moments.  But to watch these moments play out in a film, and to know exactly what lay in store for the characters on the screen, is almost too much to bear. Especially when such an awful event as 9/11 is still so fresh in our collective, and individual memories.

By mid-way through the film, I was overwhelmed by hatred and disgust toward the monsters responsible for the tragedies of that day, but by the end of the film, I felt such a powerful sense of honor, respect, and patriotism.  For once the passengers realized that their flight was just a small piece of a much larger operation, they immediately knew what they must do.  Their task would require careful planning, teamwork, and most of all, courage.  They knew that to succeed, they would surely have to give up their own lives.  And in doing so, they would not only save countless other lives on the ground, but they would also be the very first victors in this, America's first great war of the twenty-first century, the war on terrorism.

And so I can whole-heartedly say that I am glad this film was made.  I am glad that Hollywood made a film that proclaims to the entire world that we Americans are a people who do not sit idly by and allow ourselves to be victimized.  We are a fighting people who stand up and defend what we believe in.  That is what makes America the unique and wonderful country she is.  

God Bless America!  We are and always will be the United States of America!

“The World Trade Center” starring Nicolas Cage, told the story of two Port Authority Police Officers who were trapped in the World Trade Center concourse level when the first tower collapsed.  As with “Flight 93”, this film concentrated on the basic human traits of courage and heroism, two themes that have come to symbolize that fateful day.

Unlike “Flight 93”, this film showed no terrorists, and amazingly enough, showed absolutely no airplanes, save for a brief and eerie shot where we see the shadow of a plane just before it slams into the first tower.

On the contrary, over half of the film takes place in “the hole”, the deep, jagged cavern deep below ground zero where the films two stars lay trapped for the better part of 24 hours.  If you suffer from claustrophobia, avoid this film.  We the viewers spend most of the film with these two terrified individuals, who are each pinned beneath the rubble, trapped helplessly, as debris continues to shift, and fall around them.  Each one has to come to terms with the very real possibility that they may die.  What is amazing about this film is that these two people have no idea what has really happened.  They don’t know the towers fell, and they don’t know we were attacked by terrorists.  They don’t even know both towers had been hit.  They still think that one plane accidentally flew into Tower 1.  As they struggle to stay alive, they rely heavily on memories of their family and friends to sustain them as long as possible.  

One aspect of the film that really touched me was the fact that an ex-marine from Connecticut, watching the events of 9/11 unfold on television, put his life on hold, re-enlisted with the Marines, donned his uniform, and went to New York, where he proceeded to ground zero to help find survivors.  It was he who found the trapped Port Authority Police Officers.

This truly is a film of courage, hope, and survival!

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