An anniversary is often the term used for something worth celebrating. It is a word often used to signify an event where friends and family gather together to share in good times.

Such is not the case with the anniversary we mark today.

Ten years ago, the United States — a country with a rich history, a rich tradition and a military force unmatched by any other in world history — was brought to its knees by a handful of terrorists.

In the decade since that fateful Tuesday morning in 2001, there is plenty we have come to learn.

We now know who the Taliban is. We now know more about the country of Afghanistan than we ever cared to know. And we have come to learn that our country is not immune to the virus that is worldwide terrorism.

In the past 10 years we have seen our military seek out and destroy those responsible for the horrible attacks in New York and Washington D.C.

We have seen our neighbors and our loved ones head off to battlefields in parts of the world we knew nothing about, and, unfortunately, we have seen thousands of them give the ultimate sacrifice.

The past 10 years have seen passage of new laws designed to protect us, protect the homeland and make it harder for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 to ever be repeated.

There is little doubt our lives are different today than 10 years ago.

But what has not changed is the pride we feel in our country; the pride we have in our way of life.

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 may have brought us to our knees, but we stood back up and fought back.

We took the punch those cowards threw and delivered a fatal blow to them and their operations.

America is more than buildings, more than planes. America is a way of life, a belief in that we are all created equal, that we are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.