The Hope We Should Have 20 Years After 911

A lot has happened in the 20 years since the 9-11 attack on America.

Going back to that morning of September 11th I 2001, we all can remember where we were when we heard, and we can all remember the images we saw of what happened and we all recall the tears, the sadness and the anger we felt. We were all affected by it in some way or another.

Thousands of Americans lost loved ones that day and millions of Americans became rattled and worried about the safety of our country.

And while the attacks happened thousands of miles away, they hit home here in San Diego. Some of the terrorists who commandeered and flew the planes into buildings in New York and Washington and crashed into a farm field in Pennsylvania, had lived in San Diego and had trained for their evil acts, learning to fly at Montgomery Field and had worked at a gas station in La Mesa, and who had been with and inspired by a radical leader who went to San Diego State and who became an almost spiritual guide for Al Qaeda.

And thousands of Marines and sailors based here in San Diego went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan during these last 20 years to take on the terrorists. And some of them died and many were wounded doing it.

So this marking of the 20th anniversary of the worst attack on America in America in our history is a sober one, but it also should give us hope.

Since 9/11 there have been no such attacks in our country because of the sacrifices made by those brave men and women in our military who fought evil and because of the dedication and work of those in law enforcement at all levels to detect and defeat terrorists.

9-11 was a nightmare in our history. But unlike today, we came together, all as one, so that it would not happen again. And maybe now, with the division we see in America today, we should all be thinking about that.

(Photo Getty Images)

LISTEN BELOW: Interview with United Airlines Captain Jim Camphouse about 911