I still feel guilty today

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In my previous job, I had to do some really tough stuff, but the one I hated the most was firing people. Sometimes, it was kind of "ok" because it was justified by non performance and after having given warnings and many chances for people to get back on track, I had no other choice but have them go. I did not feel good about it, but at least I did not feel guilty. after 9/11, we had to reduce our headcount, have people on very short term and very flexible contracts so that we could "get rid off them" easily. That was the worse ever. I worked in a call center and of course there is a lot of turn over from the people you hire themselves, but after 2001 people were trying to find more stable positions and actually settle down into their jobs. My company was just using all the people, including me of course. My boss gave me a number of people I had to fire, sometimes we already new when hiring people that we would fire them a few weeks later. I just feel very guilty about it still. Some people were just like me, with a child to support and all, and I had to fire them on some very dodgy grounds... else I would have lost my job myself. Sometimes I think it was not fair and I should find these people again and tell them it was all fake. They knew it too for sure, but i would just like to tell them it was not my decision...