Memorial Page


Americans, One As a People

   Most of the time when I write, I do so purely for fun. I've been extremely fortunate that something I did on a lark has had such good results. If I never sell another copy of one of my books I'll have had a ball, making new friends and experiencing things that I'll remember fondly for the rest of my life.

   Now, I find myself, for the first time, compelled to write something. Not because of a story idea, or because of an impending deadline, but because of my country, and its current situation. I'm an American, a Georgia born American, and damn proud to be one.

   The events that occurred this past Tuesday touched my heart like nothing else ever has. It was unimaginable, commercial airliners crashing into both World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Two of the most powerful symbols of American might and wealth, toppled over by godless extremists.

   The attackers that did this didn't worship God, or Allah, or whomever they profess to pray to. At best, they worship themselves, and used the Muslim faith as a cover for their murderous, gutless activities. Whatever God you happen to worship probably had a couple of surprises in store for them when they had their conversations with St. Peter last Tuesday morning. I imagine they learned first hand about the wrath of God, dropping right through a trap door from heaven to hell and finding themselves high-fiving Satan before they could even blink twice. I hope their miserable souls sizzle like bacon throughout all eternity for their murderous acts.

   In the midst of our sadness, hurt, and grasping for answers, some incredibly good things have happened. We're united as a nation, ready to console our hurt and wounded, to rebuild our toppled structures, and to push forward to reclaim our American way of life. We're fully supportive of our President and Congress as they deliberate over the steps we'll need to take to right these wrongs, and to insure that something like this never occurs again.

I'll admit, I'm a supporter of President Bush, but today I find myself not just a supporter of him, but also of Richard Gebhardt, Hillary Clinton, Dick Armey, and every other representative of our nation. They're one of us, we're part of them, and all of us collectively want just one thing - justice for our citizens, and an end to the senselessness that we observed first hand last Tuesday.

   I need to say one more thing. For years, I, like many Southerners, have made fun of Yankees, or New York, or anything else that smacks of "north of the Mason-Dixon line." I now find that I have to take all of that back.

When I saw those people dying in the massive rubble and debris, and then watched those brave New York firefighters and other support personnel doing everything they could to help those caught up in this horror, I felt nothing but compassion and love for them. In the end, they're Americans.

I'm an American, too, and when you do something like this to us, there is no more North/South, male/female, old/young, black/white, or whatever such other designations that we attach to each other. We're Americans, we're one as a people, and it shall forever remain that way.

Whenever our current struggle ends, and things return back to normal, I'll still tease my Northern brethren a tad. But it'll be a teasing underscored with love, as it's my nature to tease people I truly care about. And I care about, and love, our New York brothers/sisters.

   In the meantime, I'll pray, and urge you to do so as well. Pray for our leaders, our armed forces, and for our domestic rescue personnel as they go about accomplishing their missions. I'm already predicting that they're gonna make us proud, and accomplish exactly what President Bush and our national leadership expect of them.

And, when their task is finished, when the godless bastards who attacked us join the vapors coming off our ponds, we'll understand that we're all part of the greatest nation on the face of this earth, the United States of America, and that we share a commonality of purpose with every other person that resides within our borders. We all dearly love our country, and aim to keep it fully functioning for many more generations to come.

Thanks for your time,

Ed Williams
September 16, 2001

   P.S. This article can be reprinted by anyone
that has a reason to pass it along or use it,
without getting my permission.