At 8:30 in the evening of September 11, 2001 President Bush told America and the world that, “thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil.”  We watched the events of 9/11 being played again and again on TV that day.  The scene was of two hijacked planes which crashed its way into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Pentagon was partially burning and in Pennsylvania another hijacked plane crashed.  The President of the United States of America was kept and secured in an undisclosed place.  Secret Service Agents were deployed to guard the White House.   US airports stopped flight operations.  There was clear and present danger for America.  The nation was under attack.

The aftermath of the attacks saw thousands dead and many others hurt, physically and emotionally.  Buildings and properties were destroyed.  The symbols of the nation were threatened.  America bled.  The world watched, mourned and wept with America.  We were not witness to a greater tragedy in our time than this.

Fire fighters, law enforcers, medical personnel and volunteers worked round-the-clock in search of lives trapped in the rubble.  These people worked through their pain, hunger, weariness and personal risks.  People were on vigil, prayed and provided comfort to others.  Americans held hands in that time of national grief.  Children and adults knew and their minds and in their hearts that they must remain strong and whole over this tragedy that struck their great nation.

When the last of the debris was swept away, the people began to rebuild lives, hopes and dreams.  They secured their homes, their communities and this country.    Through all that the American spirit that refused to be crashed. To quote President Bush, the attacks “shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”