Remembering 9/11

When we think of history, we think of things that happened decades, centuries, millenia in the past. But there are some moments in time that become history in the exact second that they occur. At 8:36 EST September 11, 2001, America was faced with one of those history making moments.

If you talk to your grandparents or great-grandparents, they can likely tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. Same thing with your parents and the news of the JFK assassination. For my generation and my daughter's generation, the 9/11 attacks will be forever etched into our memories and our history.

It was at that moment that we realized how vulnerable we were. Yes, we had always half-joked that there were people out there who hated the United States but from the moment we learned that this was a terrorist attack, we now had to come to terms with the fact that this hatred wasn't a joke- there were people who hated our lives, our government, our God so much that in an attempt to break us they caused the death of thousands of innocent Americans, injury to even more thousands and a wave of grief and despair sweeping across this country.

Nine years later, we are still looking for all of the answers because we simply can't fathom that human beings can do such things to one another. But what I can tell you is that the perpetrators of that heinous act DID NOT achieve their goals. The DID NOT break us. As a matter of fact, in many ways, 9/11 actually brought us closer together. Every American suffered. Even if you weren't in New York City or Washington D.C. or in Pennsylvania, you agonized over what happened. Although some folks gave him a lot of flack over his song, I think that Toby Keith hit the nail on the head with "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue: The Angry American."

What I saw on the day of the attacks- and in the ensuing days and weeks of news footage- wasn't a broken country. I saw heroes. The President of the United States and the Mayor of New York City stood firmly. NYC police and fire department workers rushed INTO the burning World Trade Center doing everything they could to save people even after it was obvious that the chance of finding survivors was slim to none- often sacrificing themselves in the process. These are true heroes.

I will freely admit that I cried yesterday listening to Michael Delgiorno's 9/11 rememberance. I will freely admit that I'm crying as I write this today. I urge all of you to remember what happened September 11, 2001, and on all of the days since. And above all, do not ever forget the significance of the words "Let's Roll."