Do you remember?

Tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001

On September 11, 2001, I was working on some financial statements when one of the ladies in my office announced that her radio had just reported that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. Over the next hour very little work was done as we all gathered around her desk and listened to the reports of the next two attacks.

When the Pentagon was hit, they immediately dismissed us since our office was about 3 miles from the Pentagon and they realized that there was a high likelihood that our friends and relatives may be dead or strongly impacted by this attack.

I remember driving home from the office that day down the Interstate 95 corridor. The central HOV lanes had been closed off to traffic and many large black official-looking SUVs drove down these lanes at a very high rate of speed into Washington, DC. These SUVs carried officials from the outlying military bases including Quantico Marine Base, which was about a mile from my house. We have since moved from that location near the Quantico Marine Base to a town that is at a somewhat safer distance from the FBI Training Grounds and from the primary terrorism target: Washington, DC. I still work in DC.

I remember the surreal feeling of that beautiful but tragic day. I remember the sense of pride in our nation and the determination that we all developed over the next few days to not allow the perpetrators to go unpunished. I remember the fact that every single bridge had a flag hanging from it. I remember that every single car had a flag flying from the side of it. I remember that every single house had a flag hung at the door or in the yard. I remember people clapping every time they saw a police vehicle or a firetruck drive by. The tragedy had brought a clarity of thought to us that is not common and has, unfortunately, not lasted.

September 11, 2001, was a day of national tragedy. But we are a strong nation. We are a nation that as a whole has an understanding of and a belief in almighty God. We are a nation that has not allowed international intrigue and international pressure to dissuade us from protecting our people and the freedoms that we hold dear.

May we all remember what happened on that day. May we remember that our nation is strong and has the right to defend itself. May we remember that it is up to us to keep our nation strong and not to allow this sort of attack to ever happen again.

God bless America – land that I love.