Cord Byrd: “in September of 1862, in a sun-drenched cornfield near the Mason-Dixon Line, a devastation called Antietam happened.…”

“in September of 1862, in a sun-drenched cornfield near the Mason-Dixon Line, a devastation called Antietam happened. Twelve thousand young Americans on each side perished. Antietam is a name forever soaked in blood. It has come to symbolize the tragic nature of a domestic conflict called the Civil War--or the War Between the States. Now this Nation is challenged once again by war on our own shores. Another tragic loss of life on another sunny morning in the September of another century has recalled for us the special trauma of war on our homeland. This time the violence on our own land has roots in a cultural clash of worldwide proportions. It is, at once, a war at home and a war abroad. While we must fight on both fronts, these are conflicts of a very different nature. The brave men and women who serve in our military volunteer for that duty. They have the unquestioned support of the American people and, through the American people, of their Government. They fight aided by technology which is the envy of the world. Our military personnel accept and understand the discipline imposed on them while they serve for the cause of freedom. The weapons of destruction which engage them are easily discernible and their lethal potential is well understood. The war on our own shores is much more complex. We know that terrorists live among us and that they traverse our open borders with relative ease.”