Iraq or a wreck?

September 11th was a critical event that has left its scar on history for all time. I was only in my preteens when this horrible incident occurred. I remember sitting in class as kids were suddenly called aside by the principal and would come back in dismay and bewilderment. Most came back in tears, grabbed their stuff and left. My usually charismatic classmate returned in silence with no emotion on his face. Where there was usually a smile, it was replaced by a solemn frown that even without a single word we were able to understand the huge magnitude of the matter.
No one knew what was going on except those specific students and the teachers. As we sat there in confusion we were given busy work to hide the tension. We were told to sit quietly, but as the teachers left we whispered like a swarm of bees because we knew something terrible had happened. A few minutes later the 6th -8th graders were told to enter a room in a single filed line and sit Indian style on the cold hard floor of gymnasium. We waited impatiently until they suddenly turned the television on without explanation as we watched images of the world trade center crumbling, and the pentagon in flames.
I can understand why people would initially be engulfed in rage and feel the need to enter war at the time. Regardless of whether you had family members that were involved in this tragedy, you felt the immense pain as you saw news clips of people jumping off of buildings and groups of crying families. However, the US has been involved in this war long enough to the point where the citizens are tired of all this violence and anguish and are just ready to see our troops go home.
I can honestly say I do not know very much about the situation in Iraq but I know how great of an impact it has made on some people’s lives. My cousin, Raymond after years of service with the navy decided to have a “normal life.”He had graduated from RPI with a degree in business and worked for one of the leading companies in power Generac, as a business development manager. He did very well for himself and had a beautiful wife and kids. Raymond had to put his life on hold as he was part of the reserves and was summoned to Iraq. Understanding he needed to serve his country he left his family, quit his job, expected the worse, but hoped for the best. We just want the war to be over, so we can have him back, and I’m sure all families who are missing a loved one feel the same.