Seven years ago, our world changed forever.

It was my senior year of high school. I was sitting in math class. And a muffled announcement over the loudspeaker opened the door from before to after. We watched in shock as the second plane struck. I cried knowing that my military boyfriend would be going to war. I cried watching the death and destruction in New York. I cried hearing the story of United 93, and listening to the phone calls of the passengers who gave their own lives to save those of others. I cried with my friends, cried with strangers, wondered how this could ever happen and how we could ever begin to find retribution.

Like most, I knew what this meant. We were at war. That there had been no formal declaration by the President (yet) did not matter. This. Was. War.

Like many Americans, I was angry. I was proud. I was sad. I was terrified. I was numb. A million different emotions rolled through me. And I couldn’t have been happier that George Bush was the man who would lead us through these dark times. He understood immediately what must be down, and had the courage to stand up and say what we were all thinking.

For a brief while, we were united as a country. We stood together, strong in our resolve, steadfast in our love and our grief. American flags were flown proudly; patriotic songs were sung.

Seven years later, much of that is gone. We’ve been divided. The unity in the aftermath was an illusion.

This country has forgotten September 11. The news will cover the tragedy today with touching tributes and sorrowful footage, but tomorrow it will be done and over with for another year. We don’t remember what we are fighting for. Of course we are fighting for freedom and our safety — but we are also punishing those who wreaked this havoc, terror, and destruction onto us. We didn’t ask for this fight, but we won’t back down.

We can never back down. We can never surrender. We can never give up.

It isn’t fearmongering to remind the citizens of what happened — the most horrifying attack in U.S. history — as much as liberals would like you to believe it is. Knowing your enemy, and knowing the evil they’re capable of, is instrumental in winning this war. Remembering the horror and terror of 9-11 is not pleasant, but it is necessary.

President Bush needs to be commended. He was truly the right man in office at the right time. The Clinton administration let this attack happen, despite having intelligence warning them of the threat, and George Bush — and the American people — got blindsided. Rather than shrinking back from the challenge, President Bush stepped up. He’s kept the country safe for seven years. He destroyed two evil regimes, brought freedom and democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan, and never apologized for any of it. As much as Democrats and liberals would like us to apologize, to back down, to give up, to surrender… President Bush never did.

There was so much heroism and bravery that day that we too often forget as well. The passengers on United 93 that fought back… the police officers and firefighters running into the burning buildings while others were running out… civilians who enlisted the next day because they wanted to fight for their country. To this day that heroism lives on… and is perhaps the only thing that lives on. Our military has stepped up to the challenge of rooting out evil and terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by and large, understands why this needs to be done. They know the risk. They know the sacrifice they may be required to make. And yet they keep fighting. Their resilience, fortitude, bravery, and sacrifice is unparalleled.

Remember 9-11. Remember everything. Don’t shut out the horror and the terror; don’t ignore the anger and the grief. Don’t forget the bravery and sacrifice of the heroes that day, or of the heroes who have fought to defend us every day since then. It’s OK to cry; it’s OK to be angry. Unless we are willing to remember what we lost, and fight to keep it from happening again, we will see another 9-11. It’s only a matter of time. Are we as a country willing to do what is necessary, not only for our own self-preservation, but for the preservation of freedom and democracy itself? America was, and is still, the last best hope for mankind. We cannot afford to let the light of freedom go out. It is something worth fighting for, whether overseas or here at home.

Never forgive. Never forget. Never give up.

Around the blogosphere…

Michelle Malkin tells us to never forget, and reminds us of lan astaslem.

The Anchoress has remembrances and prayers.

Rachel Lucas unloads on the Truthers, as well as gives us some “world opinion”.

Stop the ACLU has a tribute to the 9-11 Angels.

The Jawa Report says never forgive, never forget (Amen.).

Morgan wants you to write your Congressman or Senator, and ask them what they’re doing to fight terrorism.

Lorie Byrd remembers and gives us this excellent quote:

“The people who did this to us are monsters; the people who cheered them have hate-sickened minds. One reason they can cheer is that they know we would never do to them what their heroes did to us, even though we could, a thousand times worse. They know that when we hunt down the monsters, we will try hard not to harm the innocent. Those are the handcuffs we willingly wear, because for all our flaws, we are a decent people.” — Dave Barry.

Pejman Yousefzadeh reminds us not to ignore what happened, or to forget.

Dishonor comes in the forgetting, as does disarmament. And death follows shortly after.

At Blackfive, Laughing Wolf asks us if we’ve forgotten. His answer is yes.