Remembering 9/11

            Sixteen years have passed since that awful nightmare. Much has happened since the day that radical Islamist terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon – and then flew a fourth plane into the ground in Pennsylvania. Yet, it seems like such a short time.

            Early in the morning on September 11, 2001, Americans awoke to devastating news. An airplane – American Airlines Flight 11 – flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. Just seventeen minutes later at 9:03 a.m. we watched a second airliner – United Airlines Flight 175 - hit the South Tower. We watched in astonishment as people leaped to their deaths from the windows of the two towers. We cheered the first responders who were rushing into the towers as quickly as others were running out of them. We were shocked and amazed at how quickly both towers fell to the ground in rubble.

            The terror continued as a third airliner – American Airlines Flight 77 - hit the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. and caused a partial collapse on the west side. A fourth airplane headed to Washington, D.C. – United Airlines Flight 93 – was flown into the ground in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers learned of the first three airplanes and fought with the hijackers.

            Investigators determined that the attacks “were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda…. The attacks killed 2,997 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage.” 

            Today, sixteen years later, first responders are paying a heavy price for their valiant courage as they battle and die from different types of cancers and respiratory problems. Last month we learned of a son who died just a few months after his father died. Both of them were first responders on 9/11. 

            The United States of America has been fighting the war on terrorism for nearly sixteen years, first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq, and now in Syria and other places in the Middle East.

Just like the brave first responders on 9/11, our military men and women show great courage as they leave their homes and families to stand between the terrorists and fight for the lives of their loved ones and the freedoms of their nation.

            What can we learn from the lessons of 9/11 - other than the fact that evil people want to destroy America and we must fight them in order to survive? I believe that the greatest lesson is that we cannot rely on tomorrow. We have today, even this moment. Let us make these minutes the best that we can. An unknown writer eloquently sums up my thoughts.

At this moment 16 years ago, millions of Americans went to bed quietly, with no thought that the next morning their world would change forever. That night hundreds packed flight bags they would not live to open. Thousands slept with loved ones for the last time. One never knows what a new day has in store.

Let us live each day to the fullest, and never miss a chance to let those dearest to us know of our love for them. So, TONIGHT, if you have someone in your life that you love, tell them!