Heightened alert steels Americans against foes

"It's a war like no other we've been in," said state Sen. William J. "Pete" Knight, Republican of Palmdale, a former Air Force pilot who flew more than 250 missions during the Vietnam War.

"It is going to be expensive and frustrating at times," he said. "We are still in the process of building our intelligence agencies, which have been decimated since (Jimmy) Carter was president."

Frank Brink, a member of American Legion Post 348 in Palmdale, said the war is difficult to perceive for many Americans because "we don't really know who the enemy is."

"It's important to support what we are doing in Afghanistan, but it hasn't affected me one way or another," Brink said. "We have to do something. A lot of innocent people are being killed, and it doesn't even seem to bother the terrorists.

"They even target civilians. At least the Japanese attacked a military base with Pearl Harbor. The terrorists attacked people in office buildings."

Assemblyman George Runner, Republican, believes the Sept. 11 attacks brought the United States to a state of heightened alert and therefore created even a stronger foe for the terrorists.

"We live in a secure environment - at least we thought so - and 9-11 helped us understand that because we enjoy freedoms, we are also vulnerable." Runner said. "The country's response is appropriate, and I hope that people's support won't wane because it is a different type of war and is so far removed from many of us.

"Every day we have troops and other personnel in harm's way fighting terrorism, and we need to remember that. This is not World War II with newsreels in the movie theaters or Vietnam with cameras right alongside the troops. We need to trust what our government is doing."

Ron Laws, also a member of American Legion Post 348, said the country went into the war to win and that to win may take a long time.

"My biggest fear is that my grandchildren (who are of military age) may one day become involved in it," Laws said. "But if they are asked to defend their country they will. They've known their grandfather long enough to know that freedom isn't free.

"The war on terrorism doesn't seem as bloody as other wars, but the technology of warfare is so much better now. War is so much different now."

Knight said Americans getting on with their lives is important, but not to forget the sacrifices being made abroad and on home soil.

"The terrorists hit the World Trade Center, but they missed America," Knight said. "And because we're getting on with our lives doesn't mean we've forgotten. We've been awakened to a need, and American people come together in time of need.

"If (terrorists) want to continue their attacks on us, they'll be sorry, because they have no idea of what we can do when we come together."

Uploaded September 10, 2002