I was blown away when I read the story of two F-16 pilots, one of them a rookie female, who were given orders to take down an airliner on September 11, 2001.

After the second airliner hit the World Trade Center that morning, Air Force Lieutenant Heather Penney was one of two pilots who scrambled to intercept United Airlines Flight 93.  What we didn't know, until recently, was that those two F-16s were not armed.  No bombs, no guided missiles, no bullets; the pilots planned to ram their aircraft into the airliner, which would have probably cost them their lives.

The bravery of our military continues to amaze me.  My heart swells with pride when I read stories like this one from the Washington Post.

We all know how Flight 93 ended, with brave passengers sacrificing themselves to make certain that the terrorists wouldn't hurt any more innocent people.  Had the passengers not acted, there probably would have been 2 more casualties to add to the list.

Take a moment and read the story about Lt. Penney, and you'll be thankful that we have people like her to protect us.

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