Freedom on full display at Freedom Field

The fifteenth anniversary of 9/11 is on Sunday and by the time you read this the football game between the Veterans High School Warhawks and Houston County High School Bears at the appropriately named Freedom Field will have been played. The national anthem will have been sung, the Rolling Thunder would have already made their way around the field to hundreds of cheers. Both school bands will have already played their tubas off and coaches, parents, fans, jocks, geeks, newspaper reporters, radio hosts and a WXGA television crew will have already reported on the story. All of those things were made possible by the men and women who gave and continue to give their lives to protect this country. On the eve of the greatest domestic tragedy in this country’s history we all can gather together and enjoy the great game of football in a great American city, Warner Robins, in the great state of Georgia. Freedom was on full display at Freedom Field on Friday night and it was right on time.

Little kids running around in the west endzone outfield grass. Men, old and young hanging on to every catch and dropped pass of boys twenty-years younger they are. The game still matters, especially on this level. The final score matters less than the sight of respect being paid to the local law enforcement on hand providing security. The stands may have been split between HoCo and Veterans loyalist but we all fell under one flag; the Stars and Stripes.

I was less than 10 miles away in Brooklyn when both planes hit on September 11, 2001, I remember the dark clouds that split the previously blue skies over Manhattan. My mother worked less than a mile from the towers and I was hell bent (pardon the expression) on getting over the Brooklyn Bridge in order to get to her. I never did make it over the bridge, thousands of people were being evacuated that way. My mother did make it home hours later but not without memories that she held with her until the day she died as a result of her bout with cancer. I can still remember the carnage displayed around the city and the stunned faces of people coming into Brooklyn on foot from Manhattan, or what could at that point be better described as a war zone. Our freedom was attacked and years later we can reflect on how the terrorist attack changed the world or we could use Friday night at Freedom Field as an example of how resilient Americans are and how strong we are today. Football games in Houston County are a perfect example of how free we are as a country. Despite all of the deep-seeded issues and current political temperature, we all can still come together and equally enjoy the great game of football together. Freedom Field is the perfect example of what happens when people get together and allow freedom to ring.

I couldn’t have written a better story for the weekend of 9/11 than the one we had here in Warner Robins, Houston County on Friday. Americans, young and old, black and white, interested in very snap of the game or just at the game because everyone in town was going. We came together, we enjoyed a great game and we exercised our freedoms. Freedom was most definitely on full display at Freedom Field and it was right on time.

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