Let me take you back 15 years ago to September 11, 2001.

Fifteen years ago, something happened in America that would not only strike fear into our hearts but change the way we saw the world, travelled, how we reacted politically and, ultimately, the way we lived.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, started off as a regular day. The kids went to school, everyone went to work, it was just like any other day. However, we didn't know what would happen later that morning. Around 8:45, the first hijacked plane crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, located in New York City. Almost 20 minutes later, the second hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Also, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. was attacked on this day by the crash of yet another plane. These events were something that we would never forget. First responders ran to the scene while everyone else watched in horror from their apartments, from the street, from their places of business, from their televisions and across the globe.

A truly horrific tragedy to happen on a day that, earlier, had seemed so ordinary.

Everyone knew what happened that day. Most people have it imprinted in their memory. Our parents and grandparents will remember this vividly, but what about the kids?

Back then, nothing quite significant had happened like this in our little lives. Our generation was just starting out. We either just started elementary school or were maybe a little bit older. I was in first grade, just six years old at the time. I woke up, got dressed, got on the bus and went to school, like any other day.

It was early in the morning, and we were all in class, and suddenly, my teacher got a call. An announcement came over the intercom, we were to get on the busses and go home for the day. Now, I didn't know what was going on, but I knew it wasn't good.

Me and my brother walked off the bus, walked through the door. My dad was at work, but my mom was home, staring blankly, in silence, and in horror at the TV. Being six years old, and this being 15 years ago, I don't think I know how much I actually missed that day. But this is what I do remember.

That day would come to change history. It changed America for years to come.

The first graders, now, will hopefully never have to experience something so tragic. They will, however, be able to read and learn about it in their textbooks, a surreal concept to those who were there to experience that day.

Now, let's take a moment and thank those who gave their lives trying to save and saving those lives who were compromised on that day 15 years ago. May the families of those who's lives were lost find peace and may they always know that they have a country behind them to support them in their grief. These people and their families will always be in our hearts.

Never Forget-- September 11, 2001