INVICTUS
(….a Phoenix rising up again from the ashes…)

On December 7th, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an act of war. And though, at the time, it was labeled as – a day that will live infamy – it was still just that….an act of war. One that hit hard at our national pride, but from which we soon recovered; and, after four long bloody years, we returned the favor….with a vengeance.

On September 11th, 2001, the attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a third one (so heroically thwarted over Pennsylvania)….were not acts of war. They were simply the murderous acts of mindless pawns launched by a perverted mindset using their religion as a weapon, rather than as a guidance system for righteous living. Those acts were truly – infamy – since it defamed that religion they professed to believe in, tainting it in a way from which it may never soon recover.

Yet, once again, we recovered from that shocking event, and now, after ten long years, have largely repaid them for it. Although our counter actions haven’t always been antiseptic or civilized, they have shown them the futility of mounting such acts against us. For though bloodied, compared to their own bleak, sterile, and unhappy world, our system of a free and open society, with its iconic Lady Liberty standing proudly tall in New York’s harbor, her torchlight shining even brighter than before….yet survives…a Phoenix rising up again from the ashes.

Invictus.

CENTURION

Footnote: The painting shown below was completed within a few weeks of 9/11, and forwarded to then Mayor Guiliani, in honor of the NYFD and other responders who sacrificed so much. Where it may be today we do not know.