I passed out late Tuesday afternoon only to awake covered in sweat, hoping I was dreaming, praying I was right. I was dead wrong. The twin towers of The World Trade Center ceased to exist. They were no longer in that familiar New York City skyline. The Pentagon was hit hard, and a plane crashed outside of Pittsburgh.

I watched this happen on television in a congressman’s office. Chills ran down my spine. I was paralyzed. Paralyzed with fear, with hatred and with disgust. We grabbed our cell phones to check on our loved ones, to make sure they were safe and out of harms way. We all thought the first plane crash was horrible, then we thought the second was even worse. When the bomb crashed into the Pentagon, we watched in horror. Then the unthinkable happened. The World Trade Center towers actually collapsed.

There were no longer Democrats and Republicans, only Americans. Suddenly tax reform was not important, and stem cell research became all but a distant memory. We have to deal with something on a much broader scale: an attack on our great nation. A second and much more destructive Pearl Harbor.

I never felt more American, I was never so angry. I never wanted revenge so badly.

On the news, I saw Palestinians cheering and dancing in the streets. I was disgusted. I wept for all of humanity. Does every person not have loved ones? Do we not all breathe the same air? Do we not bleed the same color blood?

The Palestinians were happy that the all-powerful America could be harmed. Do they not understand thousands of innocent people died? These are mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. I could not believe the level of anti-American sentiment.

At a time when our only comfort is in the arms of loved ones, we must unite as Americans. We must stand up to these barbaric and cowardly acts. We must move forward.

-Steven Loffman
freshman