EDITORIAL: When the unthinkable happens
Sept. 11, 2001 is a date that we will never forget. On that date, we watched helpless as American symbols, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, were demolished.
Those Dantesque images haunted us. Images of airplanes crashing on the towers, people jumping from the buildings, running on the streets, and being covered in dust in the streets of New York. Nobody could believe it. It did not seem real.
The repugnant attack does not have any possible justification. Nothing excuses killing innocent people, certainly not hate. It was a cowardly and merciless act.
How could that be happening? How could that be happening here? These questions do not have an easy answer but one thing is sure: On Sept. 11, 2001 an infamy changed the world and marked our lives.
For most people, Sept. 11, 2001 will be remembered as the first time we felt vulnerable. A sense of fear invaded the country. Fear of flying, fear of gathering together, fear of being poisoned with lethal substances.
To overcome the fear, the country united. The United States showed to the rest of the world how the love for the country defeated hatred. As a result of the attack, new heroes have emerged in the U.S.. They have the power of determination. They make Americans feel proud of this country.
Firefighters, police officers, medical personnel, blood donors, fund raisers, U.S. flag holders have, are, and will be showing us that when the unthinkable happens, hope will arise again. Together freedom will always succeed.
Thanks to all our heroes.