James & Adrianna Shannon

I remember it well, Tuesday morning, September 11^th, 2001. I was IT Consulting in our home-office with a cup of coffee when I decided to turn on the Television between calls & emails. As I turned the TV set on, I saw what looked like an airplane hit one of the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City. It was a surreal moment for me, as the news media was trying to figure out what was going on. It wasn't too long after the first hit, that another airplane hit the other Twin Tower. I just stood there asking myself, was this real? Was this some kind of sick and twisted joke? It didn't take me long to get a grip on the situation, that the United States was under attack. I immediately called Adrianna, my wife, who was working as a web designer for a the telecom company that serviced President George W. Bush's Crawford Ranch to see if she was okay and if she knew what was happening.

It seemed that the whole world stopped as the third and fourth planes crashing, one in a field in Pennsylvania and the other into the Pentagon. Glued to the news, I watching people trying to escape from the burning World Trade Center Twin Towers. The pictures on the screen were very vivid and grim as people were jumping from windows. At that point, the worst nightmare happened as the Towers, one at a time, came tumbling down to the ground as a mass of dust covered New Yorkers were running for dear life. Meanwhile, sometime in the middle of this storm, President Bush was reading stories at an elementary school and was interrupted by his secret service agents to let him know what was going on. I was very proud of our President, as he kept his composure and did not alarm the kids, that he was reading to, about horror that was playing out, outside of that classroom. No one and I mean no one could have done a better job with a situation like this than President Bush did. During this time, I've never seen such unity as our government officials (no matter which side of the aisle they sat in) and citizens had.

But, the fear did not stop after that dreaded day. Weeks after the attack, there were rumblings about other attacks, to include biological attacks. To cap it off, the eerie quiet outside because there was not a plane in the usually bustling skies over the DFW Airport. All flights were canceled and for the first time in American History, the U.S. Air Force was alerted to shoot down any airplane that would fly during this time period. I, nor my wife, will ever forget what these radical terrorist did to our nation. As the 10^th Anniversary of September 11^th arrives, take the time to reflect, remember the victims and their families,  thank our first responders, our military, our government and our neighbors for what they did during the time of September 11^th, 2001.

Great tragedy has come to us, and we are meeting it with the best that is in our country, with courage and concern for others because this is America. This is who we are. - President George W. Bush

No matter what political leaning you have or what religion you profess, Let us Never Forget the tragedy and the unity that spawned from September 11^th, 2001! God Bless America!