America must rally
after day of disaster

On a day of an unprecedented national disaster — when outside forces apparently conspired to launch a devastating attack on United States soil — those Americans who were not victims stood still in the wake of the devastation and havoc that had been left behind.

Fear, confusion and utter disbelief were the initial reactions for most people following the series of aerial attacks on the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York City and at the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C.

Watching the towers collapse into heaps of rubble brought tears and the stunning reality of the massive loss of life this country has never seen on its own soil. Then came the sadness, the sorrow and the anger at a world which could allow such a tragedy to occur.

Within hours of the disaster, Americans of every color and every religion were showing their true colors. They were lining up at area blood banks, ready to give blood to help the victims of the disaster.

New Jersey’s police officers and firefighters were on their way to New York City, ready to do their duty wherever needed in a city shaken to its core.

Over the next days, weeks, months and years, Americans will come together to pray for the victims and the survivors, and to rebuild what has been lost. We will do that because we have no other choice.

Who do we blame? And at this point would it really matter anyway?

Thousands of our fellow humans will never walk this earth again; their voices will never be heard again; their hands will never touch a loved one again; their smiles will never touch another human heart again.

Will asking why really change anything in our world today, a world which has from this day forward in history been irrevocably changed?

After the initial shock of the day’s events were dealt with, where did our minds move to?

Most of us ran for the telephone to attempt to reach our own loved ones, even if they were nowhere near the site of impact.

Why?

Thoughts of where our children were at the moment ran through our heads because when it comes right down to it, isn’t that what life is really about anyway?

Connection, communication and touching one another in a way that makes us feel safe, feel loved.

There are no explanations that can make any of this any easier to deal with. Finding those who were responsible won’t alter the course of the events of this infamous day.

There are people in our communities who have suffered terrible losses. We know their friends and neighbors will come to their aid and comfort.

America will rally. It must rally together, or the people who perpetrated this act will claim victory, and that can never be allowed or accepted.