Another day in American history which will live in our hearts and minds forever .... the image of a jet, flying toward WTC Tower 2, taking many people to their deaths, as well as causing the collapse of the Tower ... Tower 1 had already been hit, and tragically, it was only moments away from collapsing as well .... The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. was additionally a terrorist target, and a plane bound for an unknown but equally important destination was heroically crashed by American passengers on board who fought with the terrorists & brought the plane down in a field in Pennsylvania .... 9/11 is the Pearl Harbor of our generation, and I don't think that any of us will ever forget where we were, what we were doing, and the emotions we felt on that fateful day .... "They may take our Lives, but they will never take our Freedom !" (from 'Braveheart')

I had slept in on the morning of September 11th .... as a Registered Nurse, I was working an occasional 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift at a local hospital, and after getting home around midnight the night before, I slept until 9:30 a.m. (CST) on that fateful morning .... The first thing I did upon awakening was sign onto my computer, then I went to make a pot of coffee .... My AOL screen had opened when I returned to my computer desk, and when I saw the screen, my heart stopped -- "World Trade Center Twin Towers Collapse in Probable Terrorist Attack" screamed out at me from my monitor .... As I began to read the story, tears were rolling down my cheeks, and I felt as if I was forcing breath out of my lungs .... I was stunned.

Running to turn on the TV, immediately switching to CNN from some cable channel running a comedy movie (of all things!), I stood in silence, in the middle of my living room, not able to move, morning coffee long forgotten ..... Around that time was when the first reports of the Pentagon attack were being reported, and the Flight 93 crash had just occurred, so more grief and terror would grip my heart as these stories unfolded in living color.

I then called a good friend of mine in the Air Force, as he was stationed in Klammouth Falls, Oregon, and as a jet mechanic, I knew he would “know” what was going on in our country – Jim actually answered the phone .... He told me that the United States was being attacked, possibly from outside enemies, and that his base was on highest alert …. He then said to me, “Call all of your loved ones, and tell them you love them, and if anything happens to me, know that you’ve been a great friend to me.”

Those very words struck me to the core of my being, and although, by God’s grace, his unit has remained stateside through the resulting “war on terror", I know that I have a friend in Oregon who is a part of that “war” and who could still be called up at any time.

Slowly, I was realizing that my country, my beloved America, was under what seemed to be a terrorist attack, and the next 24-72 hours would prove to be a roller coaster of emotions, tears, pride in my fellow countrymen -- and a sustaining belief that we would prevail in the end, even in the face of overwhelming evil!