WASHINGTON  -  Three years ago, just as the plane I was on from St. Louis to Washington began its descent, the pilot came on the loudspeaker.  “We have been asked to turn around,” he said.  Then he paused,  “A plane has flown into the World Trade Center and the airspace over Washington is closed.”  Our flight abruptly changed course, and an hour later I was on the ground, stranded in   Indianapolis.  Heartbroken,
I learned more about the September 11th attacks from the airport gate.

Today, my stepdaughter, Jessica, is in Iraq, fighting for our freedom and for stability in the Middle East.  I e-mail Jessica and feel a flood of relief every time I receive an e-mail back.  Both of these personal experiences are proof to me that the war on terror is a cause we must see through.

Future generations will look back on the first responders, firefighters, police officers, and soldiers who found themselves on the front lines in the war on terror, and see September 11th as the signpost to an era in American history. 

 
Almost immediately, the attack on our homeland drew comparisons to December 7, 1941.  True to those comparisons, the words of President Roosevelt were echoed by the words of President Bush, standing atop the rubble at Ground Zero, a firefighter by his side and a megaphone in his hand.

“I can hear you.  The rest of the world hears you.  And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”

In our lifetimes, September 11th will always stand out as a tragic, terrible day.  As our shores were touched by the homicidal madness of 19 murdering hijackers, as the twin towers smoldered and fell, as the outer ring of the Pentagon collapsed, as a Pennsylvania field became the grave of brave American heroes... the course of human events was forever changed.

Terrorists celebrated while these things happened, but not for long.

Looking back, I wonder that the overwhelming emotions of our country were not fear
and panic, but grief and outrage.  Within days, America had grasped our new mandate in the world.  The motto: Let’s Roll.

We became a nation that could no longer passively accept the fact that enemies of America, like Osama bin Laden, were able to plot at will the destruction of American lives.  We could no longer accept a threat such as Saddam Hussein, the sworn enemy of America, who tested his stockpiles of chemical weapons on his own people.  We could no longer wait to discover what he was preparing for on the day he gassed thousands of Kurds with chemical agents.  A bomb at the World Trade Center, more at
American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the carnage caused by ricin in the Tokyo subway system – it was no longer possible to live in a world where these horrors were tolerated.

Whatever tolerance for terrorism remained in America disappeared in the smoke of September 11th. 

Make no mistake that a war is raging in the world today, a war unlike any the world has ever known.  Anthrax in U.S. Mail.  Bombs on trains in Spain.  Terrorists in a Russian school.   The war will rage on whether America does nothing, or chooses to fight.  But history will remember September 11th as the day we were forced to fight. 

And thanks to brave, hard-working Americans doing their duty both in and out of
uniform all around the globe, we are making a difference in the world.  Thanks to them, September 11th is also the day terrorists everywhere have come to regret.  It is the day they awoke a sleeping giant, but a wise one.  We know and respect human rights. We know our obligation to the world community and especially our allies.  We use force as a last resort.  We are not afraid of freedom for others.  We will defend it at all costs for ourselves.

We are not fighting a war against terrorists – we are fighting a war against terrorism.

In this war, America is not leaving death and destruction in her wake, we are leaving
newspapers, schools, rights for women and representative democracy.  We are leaving new crops, better roads and hope for a better life.  We are leaving free societies which can participate in the world market, field Olympic teams, and police themselves.

There will be times in the future of this country when, knowing that the lives of innocent
and ordinary Americans are at stake, our nation must act.

At home, the war on terror that ensued after September 11th has closed many windows of opportunity to the evil of terrorism.  Amid the broken glass and ashes of September 11th, a new mission has arisen for America.  That day was a signpost for our nation, and we must never forget its victims or its significance.