Red, white and blue. Land of the free. Fireworks and apple pie. They all represent an idea we call America.

But what is America? Is it democracy, freedom, hard work, or strong will? Perhaps it is all of this. But last week proved the idea of America is rooted more in people coming together for a common cause than anything else.

Images on television showed Americans volunteering to remove debris; mayors, governors and the president coming together to rouse courage and will; and people who lost loved ones joining to share their stories and draw strength from each other. Stories of heroes standing up to hijackers while facing certain death are equally compelling.

As all other communities around the nation joined as one last week, so did the college journalism community. We shared stories and photos, and what we found was these events hit every corner of America from the small Augusta State University in Georgia to Seattle University. The photo of a crumbled Pentagon – taken by one of our photo editors – that ran on our front page also appeared on many other newspaper covers around the nation. And stories written from the U-WIRE D.C. bureau in The Hatchet office were also read by students around the country.

As horrific stories unfolded last week, it was hard to go about business as usual. But journalist have to. Our reporters had to ask difficult questions to students who did not necessarily want to talk about loved ones caught in a burning building or friends who they have not been able to reach. But if those questions are not asked, we as a community cannot have a dialogue to deal with these tragedies together, and future generations will never know the full extent of what happened.

It is important students know how close to home this tragedy struck, so I thank those students who were willing to share their experiences and who wrote in with their thoughts on the most tragic event of their lives so far. Keep the letters coming, and we will keep printing them.

As America moves on to repair the deep wounds left from last week’s attack and plans a response that could equate to the largest military action of our lifetimes, our country will be faced with an important challenge: to keep our strength and solidarity.

While I can’t speculate on America’s tolerance for war after such a long period of peace, I assure you that you will read about it inside our pages.

-The writer is Hatchet editor in chief.