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EDITORIAL: 20 years later, reflecting on 9/11

It remains a solemn day.

Twenty years ago today, the United States of America suffered its worst terrorist attack. Madmen took control of four planes, turning them into guided missiles.

Most people can remember where they were when they heard the news. At first, there was confusion. How could a plane crash into the World Trade Center? Was it having mechanical problems?

Some may remember watching live coverage from New York City when it became obvious what was happening. Another plane struck the second tower of the World Trade Center Tower. That was no accident.

Then the bad, horrible, unthinkable news kept coming. A third plane slammed into the Pentagon. Both towers collapsed. Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania. The target of Flight 93 isn’t known, but it could have been the U.S. Capitol, the White House or a nuclear power plant.

America would learn later of the bravery of the passengers who sacrificed themselves to prevent greater destruction.

“I know we’re all going to die,” Thomas Burnett Jr., a passenger on Flight 93, told his wife over the phone. “There’s three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey.”

They weren’t the only ones who sacrificed themselves to help others. New York City firefighters who began the day as ordinary men and women ended it as heroes. They ran into the damaged buildings to help others escape. More than 340 of them sacrificed their lives. The NYPD answered the call, too. Twenty-three of its officers died from the attacks. Hundreds of members from both departments have since died of illness related to 9/11.

It was impossible to watch. It was impossible to turn away.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered every flight in the country grounded. No one knew what was next. How many more attacks did these evildoers have planned? When would it be safe to travel? Was it even safe to go to work or school?

Then-President George W. Bush addressed a shattered nation.

“Today, our nation saw evil — the very worst of human nature — and we responded with the best of America,” he said. “With the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.”

That national unity that followed 9/11 was something to behold. It didn’t last for very long, unfortunately. Perhaps it can make a brief reappearance today.

It was one day. But 9/11 has defined two decades.

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