Inspirational Words

"I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buldings down will hear all of us soon." President George W. Bush spoke these words on September 14, 2001, three days after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. It was at that moment that I felt something that I had taken for granted since I was a teenager. That thing was true national unity.  In the wake of the cowardly, evil actions that were intended to cripple our great country, President Bush addressed the nation in such a way that panic was relieved, and people genuinely knew that we would get through this as a nation united.

Not since the famous speech given by President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin, in which he famously asked Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" (referring to the Berlin Wall), had I been so moved by a man's words.  In both instances, if only for a moment, it felt as if our entire nation was standing shoulder to shoulder behind our president.  And in both cases, America's star was shining just a little brighter.



Often times, the very inspiring words of President George W. Bush are overshadowed by political perspectives.  I feel that regardless of your viewpoints on the War on Terror, or President Bush, those words should be remembered in the context in which they were spoken. I've witnessed many things and lost friends in the years since this speech, but I am still moved to the point of tears everytime I hear it.