Whether you were strolling on Main Street,
Braving the Brooklyn Bridge,
Crossing Wall Street, or
Boarding United Airlines Flight 93 for Los Angeles.

Whether you were driving on I-65 in rush hour,
Starting class surrounded by little ,
Resting beneath the sheets, or
Stepping onto the elevator dreading another day.

Everyone was somewhere that day.

A silence rose when the Twin Towers collapsed
The city that never sleeps awoke to the truth.
The truth was apparent on that Pennsylvania Field.
The truth that we were
Unbeatable.
Unstoppable.
A mixing pot of people became
One when the dust blanketed the city like snow.

The stories repeated every anniversary of that infamous day. The witnesses speak out nine years later to let their stories be heard. The documents recorded for the future generation.

The first collision an accident,
The second, we’re under attack.

The college girls gaze in astonishment as the second plane flies into view then disappears into the South Twin Tower. Their screams like claws on a blackboard as they come to realize the intensity of the situation. The people in Time Square peer up at the NBC screen as their emotions let loose. Anger breeds like the plague and tears flood the streets. They stand with wide mouths, or fingers tapping their quivering lips. Copy paper circles the black sky like birds, littering the roads. Many dispatch units rush to the scene. One unit of twenty firefighters arrive but none would walk away alive. The noise and rumble upon the streets were silenced as the North Twin Tower collapsed followed moments later by South Twin Tower. Many viewers moaned in pain as they could only sit back and watched a couple thousand people vanished beneath the ruins.

A firefighter’s hat painted black from the dust,
A police officers’ badge glistened in the sunlight,
A workman’s briefcase ripped to strips,
And a woman’s heel broken in her attempt to escape.
Materials left behind by the fallen,
Reminders to the citizens,
Don’t forget what happen this day.

The true heroes stepped out through the dust, carrying the fallen upon their backs. They wore neither capes nor wings but dressed like everyday people. Some in red hats and gloves holding the fire hose while others bore the camo uniform. The fighters who are still fighting today; the battle we started nine years ago. They carry the memory of that day every second as they fight for our rights and their lives. They are fighting for neither glory nor fame. But for the freedoms which America is based upon.

Their feet drag through the sand,
Another suicide bomber killed five today.
Heat drenches their energy,
As a man takes a sip from his canteen.

His uniform is that of a private,
Country boy from Wapakoneta, Ohio,
Age eighteen,
Graduated three months ago.

The major steps out of the tent,
War-torn face stone cold,
He looks upon the boys,
Remembering 1973:
Withdrawing is out of the question,
For him.

The day the Twin Towers were attacked, America took action and struck back. Neither country nor terrorist group can knock America down to its knees. For we are strong and, when the time calls, band together for a cause. Every morning we are reminded of what we stand for: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”