I’ve been blessed with the ability to travel the country and the world this past year. I’ve seen more places this year than some do in a lifetime, and there’s still more I want to explore. As much as I love to travel outside the states, there’s one thing I always think about when those wheels touch down and come to a stop, 'There’s no place like the United States of America.'

One of my recent trips was traveling through the Midwest on a beautiful autumn weekend. The trees were changing color, the air was getting cooler, and traveling through the countryside was a delight.

I was going to Shanksville, Pennsylvania. If you don’t know the significance of this place, think of it in the same terms as another Pennsylvanian battleground, Gettysburg.

Shanksville is where America began its fight against a new brand of terrorism, one that was not afraid of killing both civilians and military targets.

77 minutes is the time elapsed between Flight 11 hitting the North World Trade Center and Flight 93 crashing. Let me repeat that, 77 minutes. That’s not the amount of time that the passengers and crew had to decide to act, only the time between the first and last crash.

The actual amount of time the passengers had was more like 30 minutes. What this group of people did in that small window of time is something that I am truly thankful for. It’s something that I think we Americans see better than most. We know when we see evil. We know when we see something wrong, and we don’t stand for it.

If the passengers and crew of Flight 93 did not stand up and fight in that moment, I have no doubt that even more would have perished. If you read a sliver of the 9/11 Commission Report you’ll see that our command structure for fighting this was completely paralyzed. Our government was useless in those 77 minutes of complete and utter destruction.

Only the 40 on board this flight stood between the terrorists’ goal. Only 30 minutes or less stood between the terrorists’ goal.

I am thankful for the 40 who fought back. I am thankful for their courage and what they did.

Thank you, to the crew and passengers of Flight 93, for the greatest sacrifice one can ever make, laying down your life for others.

I thank these brave men and women:

Captain Jason M. Dahl

First Officer LeRoy Homer

Lorraine G. Bay

Sandy Waugh Bradshaw

Wanda Anita Green

CeeCee Ross Lyles

Deborah Jacobs Welsh

Christian Adams

Todd M. Beamer

Alan Anthony Beaven

Mark Bingham

Deora Frances Bodley

Marion R. Britton

Thomas E. Burnett Jr.

William Joseph Cashman

Georgine Rose Corrigan

Patricia Cushing

Joseph DeLuca

Patrick Joseph Driscoll

Edward Porter Felt

Jane C. Folger

Colleen L. Fraser

Andrew (Sonny) Garcia

Jeremy Logan Glick

Kristin Osterhom White Gould

Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas

Donald Freeman Greene

Linda Gronlund

Richard J. Guadagno

Toshiya Kuge

Hilda Marcin

Waleska Martinez

Nicole Carol Miller

Louis J. Nacke II

Donald Arthur Peterson

Jean Hoadley Peterson

Mark David Rothenberg

Christine Ann Snyder

John Talignani

Honor Elizabeth Wainio