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We remember. And prepare.

Sept. 11, 2015
It’s a solemn day of remembrance on this, the 14th anniversary of September 11. It’s also a day when we worry about whether a repeat terrorist strike of that scale and size will occur again on our soil.

Just look at what’s happened since the kamikaze-style attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

We’ve had the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, India; the Boston Marathon bombing; the Fort Hood shootings; and the lone gunman attack on two recruiting stations in Chattanooga, TN, earlier this year.

All in all some seven jihadist terrorist attacks have occurred in the U.S. during Obama’s presidency.

And now, with the president’s Iranian nuclear pact poised to lift economic sanctions against perhaps the largest nation-state sponsor of terrorism in the world, along with releasing some $100 billion to $150 billion in frozen funds to Iran’s theocratic government, the ground may be set for new terrorist deviltry to get started.

Despite all that, there yet remains the one fail-safe even jihadist terrorists can’t overcome: the courage of the American people.

Just look at what happened on a train bound for France a few short weeks ago, when a terrorist tried to commit mass murder: three Americans and a British businessman jumped him and prevented what would’ve surely been mass slaughter.

It’s a trait I see and hear about in trucking all the time.

Indeed, I remember a story offered up by Herb Schmidt, then head of TL carrier Contract Freighters Inc. (which later became Con-way Truckload).

Right after the 9/11 attacks, he had to actually turn away CFI company drivers and contracted independents who offered to haul relief supplies to New York City and Washington D.C. for free; he had just too many volunteers.

In a way, then, all we can do is hunker down and get on with things, with the stark realization in the back of our minds that the terrorist threat may never really dissipate – even amid the digital corridors running through our lives.

It’s the way the world is at the moment, I guess. But Americans are a tough lot. We’ll get through it

About the Author

Sean Kilcarr 1 | Senior Editor

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