I turned on the television as soon as I heard.
There was a large explosion of some kind. People didn’t know if it was an accident or if it was some kind of attack. All we knew was that there were a lot of people killed or injured.
And then there was the second explosion, and we knew.
That was Sept. 11, 2001. I was a little 11-year-old boy with no concept of what the terrorist attacks meant. Now I’m a 22-year-old guy who has more of an understanding of the world and what goes along with it.
Even though there was much less devastation from Monday’s terrorist attack in Boston, it has a lot of similarities to the Sept. 11 attacks more than a decade ago.
Both were completely unexpected. Both used fiery explosions to hurt and inspire terror in as many people as possible. Both quickly spawned bloody pictures and videos of people running around during the destruction.
But in both cases, the images showed something else. They showed people running toward the explosions. They showed people literally carrying others on their backs — complete strangers — away from the scene.
They showed Americans coming together in support of the relative few. Whether people drove to New York to help dig through the rubble or placed an Old Glory magnet on their car, nearly everyone did something to outwardly support our brothers and sisters.
America and her people have shown time and again their capability to respond to these types of situations. Our first responders are the best in the world. Our intelligence agencies are unrivaled. And our people — whether through faith or reason, friendship or common decency — are always there for one another.
When the time comes for it, retribution will be swift and powerful. On Sept. 11, President George W. Bush gave one of the most powerful impromptu speeches in our nation’s history.
As he stood on a pile of what used to be the World Trade Center, he found himself surrounded by Ground Zero rescue workers and started speaking in a bullhorn about how the nation had New York in its prayers.
One of the rescue workers shouted — at the president of the United States, no less — an interruption, “I can’t hear you!”
Bush memorably responded, “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people that knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”
That American spirit continues to shine through our people and our leaders, as President Barack Obama promised to seek revenge.
“But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this,” Obama said. “Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.”
Everyone expects the media and politicians to start making this issue a political one before long.
Republicans may blame Obama for failing to protect the nation, and Democrats may blame conservatives for a culture of guns and violence that leads to this sort of thing.
Part of me is optimistic, though, that this situation is different. Maybe our people and our elected officials will come together and take this for what it is: An act of evil that is impossible to stop in the type of society in which we all value living.
One can only hope.
