A Look Back. Three Years Later

Three years ago today, our country was under attack. The attack came from unconventional enemies, attacking us using unconventional means. The attack caught us by surprise, but otherwise normal people jumped into action to respond to the attack. Brave firefighters and police officers raced into the burning buildings, knowing very well that they may never come back out. They willingly risked their lives, so that others may live. These men and women are true heroes, in every sense of the word.Three years ago, names like Osama bin Laden and Al-Qa’ida were not household names. While we may have heard of them before, they were hardly newsworthy at the time.

Three years ago, box cutters weren’t thought of as a weapon that can kill thousands. Today, however, toe nail clippers are confiscated before boarding a plane.

Before 9/11/01, the American people felt a relative sense of security, since there hasn’t been a massive attack of this magnitude on the mainland of this country in any of our lifetimes. Today people still think twice about getting on a plane.

Until just recently, many of our national landmarks, such as the Statue of Liberty were closed to the public. They were deemed to be likely terror targets. Today you can visit these landmarks, but only under a watchful eye.

Three years ago we were still waiting to see what our new President was made of. Only a matter of months into his term, he was given the opportunity to show us just how great of a leader he can be. He declared a war on anyone who harbored terrorists, and made it clear that as long as he was the President, he would do everything in his power to prevent another attack.

Three years ago ordinary people put their lives on hold to serve their country. Today our brave soldiers are defending our country on foreign soil, so that the fight doesn’t have to come back home.

Three years ago thousands of people lost their lives. While we may have cleaned up the wreckage and began rebuilding, we can never forget what once stood on the lower end of Manhattan. We can never forget that day.