Bob Dole: “Today we remember the thousands of people who so tragically lost their lives in the September 11 attacks. It was just 2…”

“Today we remember the thousands of people who so tragically lost their lives in the September 11 attacks. It was just 2 years ago today that terrorists launched an assault on America and everything she stands for--her freedom, her liberty, her democracy. Our hearts were broken, our lives were ever changed and left with the jarring memories of that day, those moments which seemed to last through eternity. We will never forget. Because these tragedies, those centered in New York, Pennsylvania, the Pentagon, touched the hearts of each and every American across the country, together we mourn. In our collective grief we became the embodiment of an American family, from New York to California to Mississippi to my home State of North Carolina, where we struggled to come to grips with the deaths of several of our own. Today we pause to remember these men, women, and children and honor their lives--the mothers and fathers, the sons and daughters. I recall something that was said shortly after the attacks by Fred Cranford, of Drexel, NC. He and his wife lost their 32-year-old son, LCDR Eric Cranford, at the Pentagon. Yet even in the midst of a grief most of us cannot even imagine, Fred Cranford said: Even out of evil, God can bring good things. Two years ago, the very personification of evil sought to tear us apart, but today the United States stands strong, dedicated, committed, and more than ever we are a nation united against terrorism.”