TWIN. FIVE. HERO.

Twin.  Five.  Hero.  Some four letter words to mark events of a decade ago.

Ten years ago today, two planes were deliberately crashed into the twin towers in New York, one plane was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon outside DC, and one plane was deliberately crashed by its passengers to prevent a similar attack.

There are uncountable stories from that day.  Stories of those who were present at the attacks, stories of those who witnessed it first hand, and stories from those who spent the day following the events as they unfolded.  Stories of fighter pilots scrambled on a kamikaze mission to take out the final plane, of emergency personnel running into burning buildings, of military personnel preparing for what comes next as a fire raged in their building, of members of Congress joining together on the steps of what might have been the fourth target.  Tales from lands far away, yet just as much a part of the same war, of allies invoking treaties of support for the first time, and declarations of unity and solidarity from around the globe.

In the hours, days, weeks, months, and years that followed, there have been many more stories.  Not all of them as heartening.  They have shown both the best and worst that we, as people living together on one planet, are capable of being.  They have shown that we have learned lessons from that day - and sometimes they were the wrong lessons.  These stories remind us that we have made mistakes, recovered from some, and compounded others.

Preserve the stories.  Teach the lessons... all of them.