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Brian Bain, 18, a 2003 graduate of Ambridge Area High School, is a PeprallyUSA.com 2003 Patriotic Essay Contest Semi-Finalist.

Brian Bain resides in Baden, PA with his parents, and sister Kati. He graduated from Ambridge Are High School in June, 2003, and began at Grove City College, where he plans to study biology, in the fall of 2003. During high school, Brian was a member of the National Honor Society, played Varsity soccer, was President of the Bible Club and participated in the Documentary Film Club, Student Video Festival and Daily Video Announcements. He also attended the Summer Academies for Biotechnology:Genomic Research and Computer Analysis and the National Young Leaders conference in Washington, DC.

Brian has been a part of two mission trips to Ensenada, Mexico, where he built houses. He has also built homes with Habitat for Humanity, Rochester, PA and Jacksonville, FL. Brian's hobbies include sports, hunting, camping and paintball.

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WHAT 9/11 MADE ME REALIZE
by Brian Bain

There is really one thing, which 9/11 "opened my eyes to". I realized as I watched the towers fall that our nation, although strong, is not invulnerable. Our liberty, comfort and safety are not as ordinary as my generation and I may think, but are rare privileges.

It then occurred to me that my generation does not have an understanding of the great toil and sacrifice, which were put into giving us the lifestyles that we enjoy. However, I believe that the many in our country who have seen war and its horrors do not take these things for granted. They feel emotion well up inside them and are rendered speechless by a lump in their throat whenever they see our flag raised or hear the National Anthem. They feel their bodies go rigid and break out into cold sweat whenever they watch a movie depicting war as it was or when they are asked questions about the details of those times. I can only imagine the disdain they must feel when they see young men and women my age taking our country for granted or "shooting off their mouths" about things which can only be understood by those who have lived through them.

I would like to take a moment to "wake the sleepers"; for I believe that my generation is all "asleep".

There is one thing, one institution that enables our country and, in turn, the members that constitute the whole to prosper. That quality is freedom. We, however, do not feel the chill, the sensation run up our spines when we hear that word, as I am certain many in our nation's past and present do. For to us, freedom is a right that has been given to us at no cost, but to them it is the coveted, elusive black pearl which everything was sacrificed and put "on the line" to obtain. Countless millions in this nation's past gave the most precious of their possessions, their lives, so that others might have freedom.

Awake, O sleepers! We have taken our freedom for granted, as something owed to us for all our lives, and in these uncertain times it may be in jeopardy. Our nation is at the verge of war and under the constant threat of terrorists; we are but a breath away from losing what we hold dear. Despite this, we still have the comfort of knowing that our leaders are well equipped in tools, resources, and the will to defend our freedom, but they will not be there forever. Sooner than we think, we will be the ones that the youth and elderly look to for the provision of liberty. Will we do what it takes and sacrifice for freedom when we are called upon? Are we willing to pay the price of freedom whatever it may be? We must.

So many have come and died before us that as our time arrives we must step up; it is our duty to ensure the freedom of our children and our children's children. At any moment the "collector" may come to your door or mine, requiring us to pay the price of freedom; whether it be gasoline restrictions or to give our lives for the cause. Many of you may just wish our present conflict never happened. To you I say, "So do all who see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." -- Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring.

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