It's been 12 years. An even dozen. Ten years plus two. However you want to look at it.
Twelve years ago, everything changed for Americans - the way we viewed the world, the way we viewed each other, the way we viewed ourselves.
On Sept. 11, 2001, a few members of a terrorist organization decided it would be a good idea to teach America a lesson. So, they commandeered four passenger airliners. Two they flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. One they flew into the Pentagon. On the final one, the terrorists failed. The passengers on Flight 93, over an empty field in Pennsylvania, chose their fate.
Those decisions have shaped who we have become. We were angry at the terrorists on the WTC and Pentagon flights. Right or wrong, we sent our soldiers to the Middle East to retaliate. Some of them died there, paying that terrorist organization back for what they did to our country.
On the home front, we started looking suspiciously at everyone, wondering if they had ulterior motives. We started distrusting even our allies. We pulled back, not willing to let anyone get close to use for fear they'd rip away those we loved.
But the decisions of the passengers on Flight 93, those people who decided to take matters into their own hands and die the way they chose, gave us a sense of purpose. We couldn't let them down. They showed the American spirit, being willing to die to save other people. How could we do less? So we tried to trust, to believe, to prove ourselves worthy of their sacrifice.
Have we?
I don't know. How do you quantify a person's willingness to die for someone else? I've wondered what I would have done, what my choice would have been had I been on one of those planes and known what was going on. I know what I'd like my answer to be. I'd like my answer to be yes, I'd be willing to sacrifice myself so other people could live. But I'm afraid I wouldn't live up to my ideal.
Those people on Flight 93 did, though. They chose to die as heroes. I don't know their names or the names of their families, but I'd like to thank them. Thank you, all of them, for your example, for your challenge to us, for your willingness to put your own lives on the line for the rest of us.
And my prayer is that America, and I, will live up to you.
