By John Douglas

All of us can remember what are called “gotcha moments,” moments in time when something important happened and we can recall years later where we were when we first heard the news. Such was the attack on Pearl Harbor for our older citizens, the assassination of President Kennedy for my generation and the attacks of 9/11/01 for most of us. This past week we added another gotcha moment when we heard of the death of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

While many such moments bring sadness and grief, this event brought euphoria and joy across our country and in many corners of the world. As our own Governor Nathan Deal said, “We celebrate this victory against an embodiment of evil, and we remember and mourn the thousands of innocents who died at the hands of this murderer.”

President Obama spoke to the nation that Sunday evening just before midnight with the news that our military using Navy SEAL Team 6 had taken out the mastermind of the 2001 attacks that killed so many. Not to be forgotten was that Bin Laden had earlier directed the attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors and the bombing of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania several years earlier that killed many more innocent Americans and Africans. Ridding the world of that mass murderer was great news for us all.

Unfortunately, in his speech, the President used “I” and “me” more times that we can count. While he was ultimately responsible for the final approval of the operation, and was right to give the go ahead, we should all remember that it was our well trained, highly motivated young men and women in the military who actually made the attack so successful. They have never let us down and have once again shown that they are the best there is on this planet. In spite of the fact that they are ignored in peacetime, often maligned in the media and despised by the misinformed in America, they made us proud again. We must also acknowledge the groundwork laid by former President George Bush that was vital to success. He deserves credit as well.

The young Americans serving in uniform are not faceless robots who have no feelings or desires of their own. They are individuals who strive to do well, who are eager to please and who put themselves in harm’s way for the good of our nation. It is our honor in Georgia to host many of them including the Airmen stationed at Warner Robins and Valdosta, Marines in Albany, soldiers at Augusta, Columbus and Savannah and Sailors at Kings Bay.

Not to be outdone, the young Georgians in our Air and Army National Guard stand ready to help in emergencies as well as with other duties. The recent tornadoes, the floods of 2009, and any other calamity often see the Guard mobilized for the common good. Additionally, our Guard personnel have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the Mexican border and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. They are an invaluable resource that our state Commander in Chief, Governor Nathan Deal can call on whenever necessary.

The mass killer, Osama Bin Laden is dead. His body was buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, named for the famous Georgia Congressman of years gone by. The war on terror is not over by any means. There will be other killers to take his place.

But there is one unmistakable message that the hunt for Bin Laden carries for all who would bring harm to America. You might use surrogates to do your dirty work, you might pay off others to hide you, you might stay on the run for years, you might even sleep at night occasionally. But we will never rest, we will never tire, we will never give up staying on your trail. If it takes two weeks or ten years, we will find you and we will bring you to justice. I guarantee that if nothing else got through to terrorists and the countries that harbor them, that message came through loud and clear.

Finally, the next time you see an American in uniform, just say Thank You, that’s all they want. God bless them and God Bless America.

Former State Senator John Douglas is a retired Army Officer and served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military and Homeland Security for six years. He can be reached at jfdouglas@aol.com.