9/11 became a 911 call.

Deborah Durkee

9/11.  That term is no longer just a 911 call, it has become a day, a horror, a reminder, a feeling of being unsafe. 9/11 will forever be the day America was attacked; the day America lost its innocence; a day our children will always remember even if we parents put it in distant memory.

Although the major focus of this tenth anniversary of the worst attack on American soil will be on New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, PA  – the rest of the country felt the attacks as well, if not physically, emotionally.

On that day 10 years ago I remember my husband telling me that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center, so I turned on the television. Not long after, as we watched the second plane hit the other tower, we knew we were at war. The uncertainty, the fear of the unknown, the stark change in our lives from an almost arrogant security, stared us in the face that morning. When my college freshman daughter called, crying, we knew it was not just the adults that were paying attention, but the kids, the kids who had been brought up in peace and good economic times, who had been protected and loved and cherished, were facing something we had never faced as young people – a direct attack on our country.

I told my daughter this was her generation’s Pearl Harbor and made it clear to her that the attacks in New York and Washington were acts of war, but reminded her that we had the greatest military in the world, so be glad to be an American. I told her those things to reassure her, but also to reassure myself. It wasn’t a time to hide in a closet or hide from the truth. The road ahead would be difficult, but each generation is tested in its own way.

My daughter has since graduated with advanced degrees, is married and working (thank God) and living a happy life. I’m sure she’ll remember 9/11 today, but she’d rather get on with her life. With the economy in the tank and nothing looking good economically on the horizon for miles and miles, 9/11 might not be the worst thing to happen to this country in her lifetime. I take no pleasure in writing that or in thinking that.

Our country is on a precipice. Will we fall or pull away from it? Our military has done its job this last decade, much more than we should expect. They have fought valiantly for our security and our freedom, but if we are to save the foundations of our dear United States of America, it will be up to We the People to do it. 9/11 didn’t destroy us. It made us stronger for a time, but perhaps a bit delusional as we elected a president who doesn’t even like his own country. How did we get here?

We thought we were safe on 9/10, but realized on 9/11 that we weren’t. On 9/12 we got to work and decided to fight for our country. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones fighting. We didn’t notice those in the background, hidden out of sight. We thought those who wanted to destroy the country weren’t of it. Just as we thought we were safe on 9/10, we didn’t think anyone who lived here could possibly want to destroy the America the founders created. The Constitution of United States and the Declaration of Independence are the founders’ gifts to this nation. It’s up to us to preserve and protect them for our children, our military who will be coming home, and for future generations.

Barack Obama wants to “fundamentally transform the United States of America.” No one paid attention to that statement just before his inauguration, just political rhetoric, but many of his actions prove that he was being honest then. Obama’s election has proved to be a wake-up call just as 9/11 has been. Some would rather not face it, but if we’re to preserve this great country, there’s no time hide from the truth.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” – James Baldwin.

Let’s take the spirit of 9/12, the 911 call of 9/11, the determined spirit to save our country for our children, and aim it toward rebuilding the foundations of our Republic: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, by slashing the restraints of an all-encompassing government so that true freedom will once again reign in America.

God bless America, and God bless those heroes of 9/11 who perished in their attempts to save others.

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