And I won't forget...

I'd consider myself super-patriotic. I am fast and fierce to defend my country and the rights granted to its citizens, even the crazy ones of each category. Like Bill of Rights Amendment #3 or the Duggar Family. I may not keep my bunting up year-round like my mom, but I love my country. There is nothing that makes me feel quite as patriotic as the military, firemen, policemen and motorcyclists. Basically anyone in uniform. Or leather. Its a good thing they tend to usually be found in the same places.

I live about a mile south of the Pentagon and about 3 blocks north of me is Arlington County Fire Station 5, some of the first local first-responders on the scene when the Pentagon was attacked on September 11, 2001. While I was not here in 2001, my heart was.

This past Sunday, Station 5 received a section of steel from the World Trade Center as a tribute to its service at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. At least 500 motorcyclists escorted the steel beam, connecting emergency and military responders from each location. Similar presentations have been made to Shanksville, PA and Fort Benning, GA. The "Fire Riders" and "Iron and Steel" motorcyclists use these opportunities as fundraisers for the Fire Department New York-Fire Family Transport Foundation.

So I woke up early (10am on Sundays) and walked over to the firehouse for the presentation. Of course, I started crying before I even got there as I heard the pipe and drums corps playing.

The presentation was really nice. A school group from Georgia had raised money in order to travel to the event and sing. They had several speakers, including our loser Congressman Jim Moran (sleeping in the tan suit.) A presentation of a plaque was also made from aluminum of the World Trade Center, shaped into the images of the Pentagon and the Twin Towers.

They finished by reading the names of the 125 people killed in the Pentagon and the 59 on American Flight 77.

343 NY firefighters were killed on September 11. This quilt has patches from all of their fire houses and is signed by their families.

I am so glad I went to this event. I will never forget the feeling of sheer helplessness I felt all the way over in Utah. Events like this help me to remember that small feeling was nothing compared to the horror that was happening just blocks from where I live now.

I am, and will always be, grateful to live in this country and to have voluntary military and first-responders willing to throw themselves in harms way to protect me, the 3rd amendment and even the Duggars.