- The following is an excerpt from my letter to Hillsdale Baptist Church in preparation for this Sunday’s 9\11 memorial services.
I recall only a few times in my youth when the adults in my life mentioned the fateful day we know as December 7, 1941; a day Franklin Delano Roosevelt immortalized in his declaration of war as a “day that will live on in infamy”. That generation was blessed with a character deeply rooted in the conviction that these United States were providentially blessed of God and the liberty and prosperity we enjoyed as a nation was a trust from our Creator. The toll of war and the sacrifices of the World War II generation are incomprehensible to my generation and the generations that have followed. America was blessed with political and military leaders who accepted nothing less than victory and, when the sacrifices of war ceased, we began to aid our vanquished enemies.
On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, Twenty-first century Americans were awakened to a reality we were facing a new enemy, driven not by patriotic ardor or nationalistic pride, but by a political ideology masquerading as a religion. Reminiscent of the patriotic zeal of the 1940’s generation, fervor of national pride took hold in America accompanied by calls for national prayer and the enlistment of hundreds of thousands of young men and women into our military forces. 
Fifteen years and two presidencies later, it is the opinion of this pastor that we have been betrayed; not by our youth who were ready and willing to go to war, but by politicians who lacked the will and character to set aside political ideologies and defeat an enemy determined to destroy our Constitutional liberties and enslave our citizenry.
For fifteen years we have witnessed the carnage of Islamic barbarity on a scale that is nigh unfathomable. While an estimated 6,852 U.S. military men and women have died in America’s War on Terrorism, our politicians have evidenced little concern for the hundreds of thousands who have been slain by the Muslim hordes who have recorded their atrocities against humanity. Beheadings, rapes, mutilations, crucifixions, boiling, burnings, and stoning are but a few of their legacies.
September 11, 2016, Hillsdale Baptist Church and this pastor will stop…and remember. We will remember nearly 3,000 who died on 9\11\2001; remember nearly 7,000 men and women who have died serving our nation; remember the men and women who have served, fought and many who bear the scars of war. Remember and pray…God of grace, forgive our sins and heal our land.
With a shepherd’s heart,
Travis D. Smith, Senior Pastor
P.S. A few may realize I have been absent from blogging and social media for nearly two weeks. After a battle with kidney stones, it is a joy to be sharing with you once again. God bless!
Copyright 2016 – Travis D.Smith