Wednesday, December 19, 2001
|
Wednesday, December 19, 2001 |
|
Student's letter to president published in National Journal "I'm not afraid I will die for my country, I will do anything it takes for justice," said J.C. Booth student Ashton Henderson in a letter he wrote to President George W. Bush following the events of Sept. 11. This statement along with another excerpt from his letter, "I live in the best country in the world," was published in an article about the increased number of letters the president has received from children since the terrorist attacks. The article, titled "Dear. Mr. President," appeared in the October 2001 edition of the National Journal, a magazine that is one of the leading information providers to congress, the White House and the news industry. According to the article, since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, the correspondence to the president from young people has increased significantly. The White House has come to expect on average 40,000 pieces a week. Given these numbers, it is truly amazing that Henderson's letter made it into the hands of key administrators. "We have received tons of letters since the attacks. When the Journal called and asked permission to publish some of them, I had my staff screen the letters for ones that really stuck out. Ashton's was one that just jumped out as special," said White House spokeswoman Anne Womack. Henderson expressed in his letter that he felt "really sad," and "really mad" because so many people were killed who did nothing wrong. Like many other youngsters in America, Henderson, who is in the sixth grade, now has a stronger understanding and appreciation of what it means to be free and the costs and sacrifices it takes to preserve freedom. Henderson says he partly wrote the letter to help him deal with what happened Sept. 11, but his reason for composing it goes much deeper. "I felt sad about what happened but I wanted to give him [the president] encouragement to keep going and not be scared," he said. "We live in the best country in the world and I am not afraid to die for it." Since the attacks, Henderson said he has seen differences in people, the most notable being in the way they interact. "We are coming together more. It was not a good thing that happened but there are some good things that are coming from it," he said. Henderson does not know whether his letter made it into the hands of President Bush, but he is thrilled that parts of it were published in a high profile political publication such as the National Journal. He said he could not believe it when the White House called his parents to get their permission for his letter to be printed. "All I could think was 'oh my gosh, that's not like normal when the president calls,'" he said. However, it is possible that Bush did read Henderson's letter. According to the article, each week (until Oct. 11, when mail to the White House was cut off because of anthrax scares), Bush's secretary has passed along a small sampling of children's correspondence so that the president can judge for himself what young Americans are thinking. Below is Henderson's letter dated Sept. 11, 2001.
Dear President Bush, My name is Ashton G. Henderson. I'm an 11-year-old boy and a student at Booth Middle School in Peachtree City, Ga. I feel really mad because someone killed many of my people who did not do anything to them. I think we need to fight for our freedom. I just feel really sad. I'm not afraid I will die for my country, I will do anything it takes for justice. I'm proud to live in America because we are the land of free, America is my home of the brave. I am proud to be an American. I live in the best country in the world. God Bless America, Ashton G. Henderson
|
||