9/11: Horror, Tragedy and Heroism.

9/11.  There was a time when they were just a pair of numbers but as we’ll be reminded again today it’s the date of an unprecedented terrorist attack on our country and one that was particularly devastating to so many at the Jersey Shore.

September 11, 2001 began as a glorious late-summer morning without a cloud in the sky but when the day ended the sky was filled with clouds of smoke and dust and the lives of so many were impacted forever.

It is hard to believe it was 13 years ago today that planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, another crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth which was also targeting Washington D.C. crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

When it was all over nearly 3,000 people died, more than 2,600 of them in the attacks on New York including 411 first-responders.  Multiply those numbers by the amount of family members directly impacted and you realize that this date is one filled with sadness and tears.

Of course time marches on and like history has shown us each year the anniversary of such events has a bit less meaning.  That does not mean the date has less significance but for the most part we move on and while loved ones continue to mourn they too have picked up the pieces. At least we hope so.

Even the skyline of New York City which was empty where the towers once stood has been replaced by One World Trade Center, which rises 1,776 feet above ground zero.  There will be special acknowledgements and services in many towns and cities today but not quite like the first few years of the 9/11 anniversary.

Other generations have been through this before: December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor and November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

For the current generation 9/11 remains the defining “where were you” moment and for as long as we live on this date we will be reminded of horror, tragedy and heroism.