Was at home,......had just gotten up and was doing my usual routine, watching CNN.. Saw the whole thing unfold as it happened. I lived about 25 miles west of Washington DC at the time. I remember it was a beautiful fall day, not a cloud in the sky. My home was about 2 miles from Dulles airport and I was used to the sound of aircraft from 7am until 11pm. It was hauntingly quiet that morning, no sounds of jets coming and going,.........just the sounds of birds and the occasional dog barking. About 11:30 am we heard the sound of jet aircraft, much louder than usual. We rushed outside, looked up to see two F-16 fighters make a sharp turn and hit their afterburners. They were on combat air patrol over Washington and surrounding areas. One of my neighbors was also outside, alerted by the sound of the fighters. I remember her looking over at me and saying, "my sister lives in Georgia, I'm going to drive down their for awhile. I'm so scared, I just want to get the hell out of here." Then she began to cry. She crossed the street and stood in front of me. I simply put my arms around her and held her as I also began to cry. We both stood there sobbing. A little later that day many of my neighbors were outside milling around,.......eventually we all came together in a group; someone brought out a grill and began to cook food that everyone contributed. At that moment we were as one, no colors, no ethnicity, no economic differences,.......just Americans. Those are my memories.

"Any club that would have me as a member is probably not worth joining" -Groucho Marx