Thirteen years ago, the greatest tragedy on American soil happened. Hijacked airplanes torpedoed through the Twin Towers in New York City. Massive destruction was caused, thousands of innocent lives were lost. Mothers and fathers lost their sons and daughters, sons and daughters lost their mothers and fathers, friends lost friends, spouses lost spouses. A devastating and unprecidented amount loss and hurt seized this country,

I will never forget that day, where I was, how I felt and the absolute shock and awe I felt when watching the events unfold. I was a senior in High School, in my AP Government class when another teacher came into our classroom and informed our teacher of what had just happened. My teachers’ father was a consultant in Washington D.C. and the clear fear and concern for his fathers well-being was evident until he heard from him.

We watched in horror in that class and my following class, as we watched the debris and heard the screams. We watched as the Towers fell one by one and as the smoke and ash littered the streets and air. It was a horror story that seemingly came from a Stephen King novel. It was the kind of tragedy that no one ever thought would happen to America, and definitely not on American soil.

As I can remember that day was also the one year anniversary for me at the job that I worked for, so while I wanted to go home and continue to watch the coverage, try to digest what I had seen all morning I had to go to work and have, what would turn out to be, a very muted celebration for my completion of my first year of service. I had friends who worked for the state and federal government that were locked out of the building because of the terrorist actions.

I can remember having a red, white and blue ribbon pinned on me at work and just trying to imagine how absolutely terrified I was at watching what had transpired. I remember getting home and watching as the entire Congressional body stood out on the Captiol steps and sang ‘God Bless America’. A rear site to see members of both parties united after the controversial election that put President 43 in the White House.

As I reflect today, thirteen years later, I remember the first conversation I had with a co-worker who said he couldn’t wait until we “Bombed those bastards to hell.” Yes he was a Republican. And I remember when I got college the next year and I met my best friend in college, who was from New York, and he told me about how he was near Ground Zero and the horror  he felt. He talked about not joining the military and knowing friends of his who were going to war, since the President had announced the first major offensive.

I remember September 11, 2012 because we woke up at 7 a.m. to have a make shift memorial service outside our dorm before we started our school day. It’s amazing to think that it has been this long since that unimaginable day and while we have been safe from such a tragedy again, we still feel the after effects of that day. We have a President who still has to send our Military personnel into harms way because of the need to protect us from the next potential threat.

We hold memorial and honorary services to mark the tragedy and to make sure that we never forget what was done. I am always reminded of how strong the United States is every time we have these types of moments. Many countries would not be able to sustain the type of attack we experienced and come back the way we have. While we still operate in a protect us first culture, we definitely are still the best country in the world.

God Bless the memories of those who lost their lives in that fateful day and those who have sacrificed in the years since and the wars we’ve fought. #Never forget.