9-11

Sunday is the tenth anniversary of the most horrific event in our generation, 9-11. On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorist from the militant group, al-Queda, hijacked and crashed four commercial airliners, killing thousands of innocent Americans. This was a series of four coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States in New York City and the Washington DC area.

On that morning, the hijackers intentionally crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania before it could reach its intended target in Washington, D.C. after the passengers attempted to take control. Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks.

Any of us who watched those events unfold will never be able to erase the images from our minds. Caroline will never remember this tragic event, she will only read about it just as we studied of tragedies that happened before our time. I hope as she learns of these events that she will come to love the country she lives in. I hope when she sees Old Glory that it will be a symbol of freedom to her. I hope when she hears The Star Spangled Banner or  God Bless America, that she will be proud of her country and pause to give thanks for those who gave their lives for it. For with all of her faults, failures, and disappointments, the United States is still the absolute best country in the world in which to live...... God Bless America.