Ed Bryant, September 6, 2002

On September 11, 2001, militant Islamic terrorists hijacked four airplanes. They proceeded to crash two into the World Trade Center in New York and another into the Pentagon. It was only through the brave actions of the passengers of United flight 93, who rebelled against their captors, resulting in flight 93 crashing in a Pennsylvania field, that further destruction was avoided.

One year later, much has been accomplished. In New York, the cleanup of "Ground Zero" has officially ended months ahead of schedule. At the Pentagon, where a sign visible from the highway counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to one-year anniversary of American flight 77 hitting the building, the offices that were destroyed have been reoccupied. The Taliban government, which allowed the al-Qaeda terrorist network to use Afghanistan as its home base, has been overthrown.

The terrorists believed that our nation is evil, and that we deserved to be destroyed. They thought that their attack would not provoke much of a response, and that they would be free to terrorize our nation for many years. They could not have been more wrong. The Taliban regime was toppled, a new democratic government has taken its place, and hundreds of terrorists have been rounded up and imprisoned around the world.

We have done many things in the past year to help the nation recover from the devastation of September 11th, but there is still much to do. Our armed forces are still actively looking worldwide for terrorists who are bent on our nation’s destruction. The House has passed legislation that will establish the Department of Homeland Security. This new department will help make America safer through improved coordination between federal, state, and local governments and first responders.

While we have rebuilt the Pentagon, there is still a gaping hole in the New York skyline, and in our nation’s collective heart. Images of the destruction from September 11th will be forever burned in the minds of many Americans. However, those should not be the only images we remember. We should also remember the image of the three firefighters raising the American flag over the rubble of the World Trade Center, the images of our communities coming together as Americans first and pledging to do whatever was needed to help out the victims of the attacks.

Our country must always remember that we were attacked without provocation and without cause on September 11th. Nearly 3,000 Americans died that day, through no fault of their own. That tragic day also showed the true American spirit, as those passengers on United flight 93 knowing that they were going to die that day prevented hundreds, if not thousands of further deaths, by taking on their captors. The last words heard from a passenger on flight 93, Todd Beamer, were a rallying cry to his fellow passengers, and soon thereafter to our country: "Let’s roll."

Should we forget what happened that day, and why we are fighting our current war, we are giving America’s detractors a great victory, and dishonoring those who died that day and have died fighting our war against terrorism. Last year, Congress authorized the President to declare each September 11th "Patriot Day." This first Patriot Day, let us not only remember those who died on September 11th, but our first responders, ordinary citizens who did everything that they could do to help the victims, and our armed forces who are fighting to secure our nation’s future.

In time, our nation will experience new triumphs and new tragedies, but we must never forget what happened on September 11, 2001. God bless America.

Congressman Ed Bryant represents Tennessee's Seventh Congressional District.