It’s been nineteen years since we all saw the towers collapse knowing hundreds of police and firefighters, and others instantly lost their lives. It was at that moment that we remarked that the day was September 11th, or 9/11. But it is only written as 911, the SOS phone number for police and fire assistance.

We can all remember where we were and whom we were with as if it had happened yesterday.

We were devastated, perhaps scared, but we were all angry Americans.
Then we heard about the other planes that were in the air and headed to some unknown target.

First, the Pentagon was attacked, and then the brave citizens on Flight 93 put an abrupt end to the third attack. These brave souls did not panic in the face of certain death but acted to save others.

That first 911 ushered in a time, however brief when we thought and felt and acted as THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

We weren’t pointing fingers, and whether you voted for George W. Bush or not, you cheered for him when he was at the World Trade Center site and when he threw out the first pitch of the Yankee World Series game a few weeks later.

That’s what Americans have always done. We unite in times of war. We don’t fight each other at these times. We fight our common enemy.

Maybe, if only on this one day a year, we can remember when Americans were united?