Death to bin Laden a Good Thing but No Time to Let Our Guard Down

Perhaps you had heard of him before Sept. 11, 2001. There was the first attack on the World Trade Center, the bombing of a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia, bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and an attack on the USS Cole.

If you hadn’t, or if his name just didn’t stick, that all changed on that bright September day when two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, another into the Pentagon in Washington and a fourth, also headed to Washington, crashed in rural Pennsylvania when its passengers tried to take back the plane.

It wasn’t long after that Osama bin Laden, the head of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, was identified as the mastermind of the attacks.

President Bush vowed to hunt down bin Laden and others responsible, and nearly 10 years later, the job was done.

“Tonight I can report to the American people and the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden,” said Obama, in a rare Sunday night address.

Obama said a small team of U.S. personnel attacked the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where bin Laden, 54, had been hiding. During a firefight, bin Laden was killed, prompting Obama to call it, “the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaeda.”

The nation celebrated Sunday night into Monday and closer to home, the feeling of relief was similar.

“Having had my grandson serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and having him been wounded in Afghanistan, this bin Laden thing means a lot to me,” Ann McLaughlin of East Hampton said. “I’m just glad it’s over and I hope it’s a start of bringing our troops home.”

Bringing our troops home, acknowledging when they are away and how they are received when they come home, has been on McLaughlin’s mind for some time.

So, she decided to do something about it, and the idea of a Yellow Ribbon Program was born. The program will begin Memorial Day.

To get it started, four servicemen will be honored by tying yellow ribbons around the tree in the Village Center, near the Congregational Church, following the Memorial Day parade. The families will be present, and during the walk of honor, will walk to the tree and tie a yellow ribbon around it. The families will be escorted by veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars.

That’s not all, though.

“Our main thing is, that when the service people come home, we’re going to have a flag waiving ceremony on the street where they live,” McLaughlin said. “ I think it’s a great program and I just think when people go to that stop sign and see those yellow ribbons around the tree, I think it will mean a lot.”

Her grandson, Sgt. Arron McLaughlin, threw out the first pitch at the Little League Opening Day ceremony on Saturday. He also will be the guest speaker after the parade on Memorial Day.

Despite the nation’s celebratory mood, calls for vigilance could be heard from Washington to your local police and fire department.

U.S. government facilities around the world have been placed on heightened alert and a worldwide travel alert also was issued for the increased potential for violence against Americans.

“We’re going to have to stay very vigilant,” Portland Fire Chief Robert Shea said. “We can’t let our guard down. Although we can report that bin Laden is gone, there’s a very large concern that we have to ramp up our efforts for possible implications regarding his death that could result in retaliation attacks.”

Shea thought bin Laden’s death was good for those most affected, whether those having lost a family member on 9/11 or fighting for our freedom overseas since that time.

“I don’t think it will ever bring any closure, but I am sure it will bring some relief to them or some type of feeling of closure, I would hope that it would do that,” Shea said. “As far as the public is concerned or public safety, in today’s day and age, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to let our guard down. We’ve had such an outcry for people being aware and reporting stuff that was suspicious for years now. What we don’t want to do is for the public, who’s really been our eyes and ears, to let their guard down.”