September 11, 2001

We all remember the day. We all remember what we were doing when the first, and then second, commercial airliner hit the World Trade Center buildings. We remember the symbol of American military power, the Pentagon, with a gash that cut deep into our own hearts. We remember feeling of loss and uncertainty when the airliner crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. We remember the fear of being in a country under attack, and that uneasy feeling in the pit of all of our stomachs that told us, we could be next. We remember the horror of watching the towers disappear from the landscape of American life. We all remember the day.

Today is September 11, 2007. A day we remember the victims of a terrorist act that not only took members of our American family, but affected our American family on the most basic levels. Today is September 11th.

Today the politicians and the pundits will relive and remember for us the darkest hours of that fateful day. They will talk about keeping us safe, wars, terrorists, sleeper cells and what they will do to protect us in the future. They will tell us we are safe, but not that safe. They will tell us that this tragedy has defined the time that has followed and has brought us to where we are today. They will remember the day for us.

The September 11th that we remember is a day where America and the courage of Americans shined like the brightest star in the night sky. It is a day where Americans ran INTO burning buildings to save anyone that they could. It was a day that Americans worked together, cried together, and promised each other that this would never happen again. It was a day where politicians and pundits watched as Americans did what we do best, we did our jobs. September 11th is not the day that we remember America in its darkest hour. We remember September 11th as America and Americans in their finest hour in the darkest of times.

We remember.