Remembering 9/11 – Twenty Years Later

September 11, 2001 was one of the worst tragedies in our nation’s history. The attacks that day were so devastating and took the lives of nearly 3,000 people. It’s a day that will never be forgotten and all of the lost lives will forever remain in our hearts. Remembering 9/11 will always be in the minds of Americans that lived that day.

I was working on September 11th as a new hire flight attendant. I was flying from Baltimore, MD to Denver, CO when the attacks took place. My training class had just finished our six month probationary period on September 10th. Therefore, it was happiness one day, followed by complete sadness the next.

It was just another routine morning until we first got word that “there was an incident in Washington and we had been requested to land at the nearest airport immediately.” For our flight, that was Indianapolis, IN and with all the gates taken, we sat on the tarmac for over 3 hours. It wasn’t until we were on the ground that we got the full details of everything that had happened. I don’t think I will ever forget the faces I saw that morning. Everyone was in disbelief and it was very difficult to even find a working cell phone to reach out to loved ones. After being put up in a downtown hotel, I was stuck in Indianapolis for five days before making it back home.

Our country has made great progress in moving forward from that day. We have rid the world of Osama Bin Laden and many other Al-Qaeda operatives and have proven that our nation is strong and can overcome even the worst of disasters.

Just remember that the enemy is still out there. With all of the heightened security and TSA restrictions, I think many people lose sight of that. Everyday the enemy is learning and evolving, so we must make sure that we do the same.

I ask you to take a few moments today and recognize all the lives that were lost and if you come into contact with one of our armed forces, tell them just how much you appreciate what they do. God Bless and lets all do our part to keep America safe.