Remember

Remember 9/11/01. Remember where you were, what you were doing. Remember the gut-wrenching feeling when you heard that the planes crashing into the World Trade Center were not an accident. Remember the sinking feeling you felt when you watched, over and over again, the twin towers imploding, the clouds of dust and debris chasing shocked New Yorkers as they fled for their lives.

Remember the horror when you heard the numbers killed that day, the people going about their daily lives, the first responders entering the buildings as others fled. Remember the passengers on American Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175. Remember those first responders who still suffer the physical and emotional damage inflicted by the events of 9/11. And remember the search and rescue dogs and their handlers, who worked tirelessly to find survivors, or more often, human remains.

Remember the fireball after American Airlines flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon. Remember the 125 people who died there, people who came to work that fateful morning as they did every day, never dreaming that that would be their last day alive. Remember the survivors who suffered terrible burns and psychological scars, and those who rushed to help them, many from neighboring cities.

And remember the passengers on United Airlines flight 93, who almost succeeded in overtaking the plane's hijackers that terrible day. Their heroic actions caused the hijackers to slam the plane into a field in rural Pennsylvania, denying them their planned attack on the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Just remember. Always remember. We must never let this day fade into history, with barely a mention in the daily newspaper as has happened with the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Take a minute from your day to remember, and pledge that you will never forget.