Remembering 9-11

This is a sad day for America, or at least it should be. Eight years ago we were attacked by a vicious and ruthless enemy and over 3000 American lives were lost. The day is being attacked by the left, but to be honest with you, I would rather share my memory from that day rather than talk about those people.

It was a normal work day for me. It was a beautiful Tuesday morning. The sky was clear and the temperature was mild. I was working on the North Side of Pittsburgh when someone said that a "small plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York." I immediately thought that someone was learning how to fly and really screwed that lesson up. Then we heard about a fire in the building and I thought it was just a small one that would be extinguished. Then we heard that another plane had crashed into the other building at the "WTC" and I thought, "We're under attack."

There was a mass exodus from the city as reports of a plane crashing in Somerset Pennsylvania some 40-50 miles away. What was a normal 15 minute commute told over two hours for me to return home. I had a six month old at the time and I was never so glad to be with my family. Like everyone else I watched in horror as the story unfolded. The World Trade Center, Shanksville, the Pentagon. I watched our President address the country and the wall to wall coverage on the television.

About four that afternoon I went out in the back on our deck. It was eerier. Total silence. Normally I could hear planes in the distance turning to make their approach to Greater Pittsburgh International Airport. That day there was none. After a while, the silence was broke by the sound of an F-16 flying through the sky and latter several Blackhawk and Huey helicopters. Since my time in the military, I'm like "Radar O'Rielly" I can hear a Huey before anyone else.

The next day there was a sense of loss. We were mourning the loss of our brothers. We never knew them of course, but we felt as if we had. I stood in line to give blood, the only time in my life when I had to stand in line to do that. I went to Mass with Catholics and non-Catholics. It didn't matter what faith you were, you just wanted to go to church, to be with others, to be with God.

It didn't matter if you were liberal or conservative. It just didn't matter. All the political BS was put aside and we were united as one. Overnight American flags started to appear on every house. We were united.

They don't show the planes going into the "Twin Towers" or the fires anymore. That's too disturbing and people don't want to see that, they say. They say it also incites hate and violence. It does not. They just want us to forget 9-11. I say show the video every night. We should never forget 9-11.

I wish 9-11 had never happened, but of course that's not possible.

I wish we could go back to September 12th.