Belief turned to disbelief at 9:03 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. It’s the moment when United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, 17 minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower.

It’s the moment when we, as a nation, realized this was not an accident.

We were under attack.

The belief that we were impervious to an assault on our soil was shattered by the disbelief that any human could conceive and execute such devastation.

As with Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy assassination, we will never forget where we were at 9:03 a.m. on 9-11.

But what the terrorists did not count on was our country coming together in the hours and days following 9-11.

“One thing that happens here in this place is when America suffers, and when people perpetrate acts against this country, we, as a Congress and as a government, stand united and we stand together,” Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert said from the steps of the Capitol in front of members of both houses of Congress. “Senators and House members, Democrats and Republicans, will stand shoulder-to-shoulder to fight this evil that’s been perpetrated on this nation.”

Senate majority leader Tom Daschle echoed the sentiment.

“We, Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, stand strongly united behind the president and will work together to ensure that the full resources of the government are brought to bear in these efforts.”
As the Congressional leadership departed, members of Congress who had gathered on the steps began singing “God Bless America.”

On this, the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we ask all Americans, young and old, rich and poor, liberal and conservative, to take a moment to remember what happened at 9:03 a.m. 10 years ago today. An attack on our nation brought us together as a nation in defense of all citizens.

Ten years later, it is time to stand together again, and God bless America.