Let Us Never Forget: 9/11

Few historical events will be remembered by our generation as the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. In a moment, I can return to the exact location, activity, and emotion that surrounded me as I watched the attacks on our country unfold.

At the time of the attacks, our daughters still lived at home. My parents called me and told me that they were in their car but the radio announcer had said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. The girls and I turned on the television in one of our daughter's bedrooms and we sat on the edge of the bed, watching the events unfold. I sat, as a mother, confused and bewildered -- trying to make sense of what my eyes were witnessing. Was this an accident? Was the USA being attacked by another country? Was this a terrorist attack?

I immediately thought of my husband. At the time he was assigned to a chemical depot where the nerve gas, VX, was being destroyed. Concern crept in as I realized that an attack by foreign or domestic enemies of the USA might select a target such as this chemical depot.

After we had viewed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we switched between stations. Suddenly we saw large plumes of smoke and dust and before our eyes, the first of the Twin Towers disintegrated. We looked at each other and asked each other the inevitable question, "Did we see what we thought we just saw? Did that mammoth structure collapse, floor upon floor, before our very eyes?" The elite of Hollywood could not have scripted and filmed such a drama.

My heart sunk. As a mother, I sat, paralyzed, not knowing what I should do or say to our girls. I had never imagined such a horrendous happening in our country. And I had not prepared what I would say or do in such an event. I whispered up prayers for God to stop the attacks and to comfort the broken people who had lost loved ones.

I knew the death toll was going to be staggering. I gasped as one network captured the terrifying shot of individuals jumping to their death from high above New York City. They had determined that suicide would be better than the fiery inferno that had ignited around them. I will never forget those mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers having to make such a horrendous life or death decision.

As the days passed, my heart broke -- both for the families of lost loved ones and for my country. I knew America would never be the same. Perhaps we had lived with our heads buried in the sand -- believing that our powerful nation was beyond the armed hand of our enemies. The attacks rattled my confidence in the security of my country and the future of my children.

Seven years later, the images of 9/11 remain vividly implanted in my mind. Today I passed a field filled with American flags with a sign that read: LET US NEVER FORGET. We must continue to support our troops' efforts to fight terrorism, evil leaders, and terrorist regimes. I am grateful to the families who have sent their sons and daughters to fight to defend our family's freedom. I am humbled by the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives so that my children and grandchildren may live in a safe country, free of terrorist threats.

Let us never forget. Too many lives were lost. Too many families suffered. Too much changed on that day for us to forget.

Photo: Little did our family know, as they posed before the World Trade Center in 1998, that this NYC landmark would be destroyed in less than 3 years.