I have only been in one fight in my life. It was in 7th grade and there was only one punch involved between three people. I provoked it, they challenged back, and then I gave it to one of them. What I saw after that was the most amazing thing. One punch put a kid on his back, causing 70% of his face to instantly grow an inch, and turn blue within 15 seconds. Then I watched an older brother not stick up for his little brother because he was TERRIFIED.
In one punch, I inflicted bodily pain, terror, emotional insecurity, and probably some hate. Believe it or not, I got the short end of the stick that day. Guilt, pain, choking feelings, wishes to take that moment back, apologies I can not say now, and what's worse... an ECHO in my MEMORY.
After 9/11, the word on the street is that, "America will never forget 9/11." This has been an ECHO for over a year now. Well... the terrorist will never forget either. The kid that I punched and his brother will not forget our day, and neither will I. These are not memories I want to have.
In this world... there is no debate about whether a country is peaceful or whether they are aggressive. Now everyone is aggressive and we just decide if the nuclear weapon threat is real or a bluff. As a country we are so aggressive even on our own land. We talk about a unified country, but fear to ride subways. We talk about the US being a mixing pot, but classes, races and gender have trouble with simple eye contact, or even grabbing a ladies cart on the way to the store so she doesn't have to take it back.
Everyone gets hyped up and WAR hungry, whether they don't get their big piece of chicken or lose a loved one. I'm PROUD to know that nothing that we have now will be with us when we die, whether we go to heaven or lay in the dirt. Everything seems to revolve around the tangible, despite the thought that we have a soul. We focus on acquiring rather than creating, and we certainly don't focus on loving. You don't have to live the longest life to prove you loved the hardest. You have to demonstrate some type of sacrifice to prove that your body and mind are where your soul is.
Does anyone REMEMBER Ghandi, or Martin Luther King? The one's that were STRONG. Not "strong" like the US, STRONG like HUMANS. Both the US and these men put their foot down, for something they supported. All of them have suffered casualties. So let’s analyze this. Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi accomplished something bigger than themselves. But the US hasn't accomplished anything bigger than what one of us could accomplish on our own with the combination of our brain and soul.
I'd rather die by an attack, than die on a front line. The question is not whether I want to die or not, the question is... In what state of mind? Do I want to be storming out of a trench, running at someone with a different version of the same killing machine (gun), just to find out ultimately who's a stronger country in the killing department? NO. How about a missile dropped on me because I'm at the coordination of an enemy's position (for them). NO. Well... what am I getting at then?
It's called PEACE. And here's a piece of mind. Let's hypothetically say the terrorists blow up a major US city. The nation cries. But then we just hold each other's hands for support (like a family), as apposed to going out and killing to falsify a solution. MILLIONS and MILLIONS of people, die, bomb by bomb, city by city, in a peaceful manner. <-- That is what humans are capable of. We should not be scared of going to heaven, or going into the dirt. It will happen eventually, and everyone says that life goes by faster and faster as they get older, which means death is around the corner for us all. The world’s largest nation, with the most people dying in the biggest statement ever said in the WORLD. That statement is PEACE.
I would be honored to make my life a number to that contribution. I would be honored to sit next to any one of you with my arms around you male or female, looking up from the coordination that the enemies have marked for a nuclear weapon attack. WE, sitting there, together in the face of death are what we ALL strive for in our lives; a friend through it all. We can't accomplish that pointing fingers, or holding guns. We have to have both hands open and the arms wide.
I remember when I got the call from my grandmother's voice around 6:30am Pacific Time on 9/11. Her voice was shaking, and I heard her push the words out, "America's been attacked, we are going to war." I didn't have cable at that time, so I zoomed to a friend’s house (terrified) to watch what was going on. When I saw this, 2 thoughts went through my head. The first... "OH MY GOSH, it looks like a movie” The second... "There are a lot of hugs needed now, ESPECIALLY for the terrorists" because I remember what it's like to attack someone.
I don’t know if it's fortunate of me to be the only one of my family to carry on the name (so I don’t have to fight a war). Now I get to enjoy my life (for however many more hours fate has provided), but all I can think about is 2 soccer teams running at each other with hand guns, each trying to kill the other team. Let's at least trade the guns for a soccer ball to find out who's a winner, because EVERYONE is losing right now.

--annonymous