Rick Liblong: The day that changed everything 

It’s been 25 years, a quarter of a century, but those words still send a shiver up my spine and those of millions of other Americans. It was a day that changed everything. 

I was driving to work in Arlington when I heard on the car radio about a plane hitting the World Trade Center in New York. A year or so ago I went to the top of one of the buildings and had lunch. When I arrived at work, a colleague had a television set on and we watched the second plane hit the second tower. 

A very short time later, a plane flew so low over our building that we remarked about how loud it was. It slammed into the Pentagon only three miles away. We later learned that another plane, probably bound for Washington, had crashed in Pennsylvania. 

Our friend, Rachel, was in the Pentagon that morning and had to crawl to safety through the rubble. One of my consulting clients told me that he had taken his whole staff to breakfast at a nearby restaurant that morning. The plane hit one window over from what had been their offices. 

Sue and I each raced home to be together not knowing what might come next. America was under attack. The President immediately ordered that every plane in the sky land at the nearest airport and authorized the U.S. Air Force to shoot down any that didn’t comply. 

Terrorists had managed to hijack commercial airliners, full of innocent passengers, and deliberately fly them into the buildings, killing themselves and everyone onboard. Why? It’s a question I’m not sure that we can answer even today. 

Fortunately, there have been no more such devastating terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11. Part of the reason is that rules for airline travel changed dramatically as well as safety measures put into place at many possibly vulnerable locations. But the biggest reason is that the awareness and vigilance of the American people from that day on has been on high alert. 

The tragedy sparked an ongoing debate on how much privacy citizens should give up in exchange for national protection. The phrase, “If you see something, say something,” is now part of our daily lives.  

Federal, state and local agencies learned they must share intelligence data instead of working in separate groups. The U.S. government created the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to better protect the country. 

In addition, the Transportation Security Administration was formed, and airlines reinforced cockpit doors to stop hijackings. The passage of the Patriot Act gave the government wider authority to monitor communications and track potential threats. 

The attacks shifted U.S. foreign policy toward terrorism and potential terrorist threats. The event proved that the U.S. mainland was vulnerable to foreign extremist networks, changing public views on everyday safety. 

On this 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, let us all remember those we lost that day and remain steadfast in our resolve that it will never happen again. 

God bless the United States of America.