A plane originally headed for Los Angeles, smashed into the World Trade Center on a clear day. Fifteen minutes later when people were trying to figure out whether it was an accident or not, another plane smashed into the next tower. About thirty minutes later another plane crashed into the Pentagon. Over three thousand innocents are considered missing or dead. The terrorists in the planes left all the families without the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. September 11, 2001 made an impression on my life that will never vanish. My feelings of patriotism and National pride were amplified both during the attacks and so much more after. The passengers in the Pennsylvania flight were exemplars of the American Spirit. They sacrificed themselves for the country; they fought back. Much like many other Americans I feel outraged over the loss of collective and individual innocents. At the same time I have renewed faith in America's greatness and its ability to persevere and positively affect the world.
             Growing up always has its blissful insulations from horror, in the best of circumstances. Americans, particularly, have been an ocean away from most of the terrible occurrences in modern times. We read of irate terrorists bombing shopping centers, but it was difficult to dredge up much emotion. Homicide bombers in Israel were a horrible thought but they were so far away. Except for Pearl Harbor, which was far away and way before my life span. No major atrocities were committed anywhere near American soil. In one heart beat all of that changed.
             One of the bloodiest moments since the Civil War occurred on American soil, and the dead were women, children, and other innocents. No American could have foreseen or fathomed such blood chilling hatred. We have always known that some in the world hated us, but the capacity for evil was in this case mind- boggling. This was not just an attack on a couple of New Yorkers in a building but
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