September 16, 1976 - Shavarsh Karapetyan, a 13-time European Champion, and seven-time Soviet Union Champion finswimmer, risked his life to save passengers onboard a trolleybus, which had gone out of control and driven into the Yerevan reservoir in Armenia. Karapetyan had just completed a 12-mile training run with his brother when he heard the sound of the crash and saw the sinking trolleybus some 80 feet from the shore. Without hesitation Karapetyan and his brother jumped into the water and swam to the trolley, which was now resting at the bottom, 33 feet below the surface. Karapetyan dove down and was able to kick out the back window of the bus and begin hauling people to the surface where he would hand them off to his brother, who helped them to the shore. His efforts were hindered by conditions of almost zero visibility due to the mud kicked up by the bus, nevertheless over the course of approximately 15 minutes Karapetyan was able to rescue 20 of the 92 passengers onboard. His heroic efforts took a toll on Karapetyan and marked the end of his athletic career. The combined effects of the cold water and multiple cuts he received from the broken glass of the window left him in a coma for 45 days after the accident. Furthermore, he developed sepsis due to the raw sewage that was in the water. Due to the secrecy of the Soviet Union, Karapetyan’s achievement was not recognized immediately. The photos and details of the accident were not released for two years after which Karapetyan was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor for his efforts.

As a child I remember my father telling me what he was doing when he learned that President Kennedy had been assassinated. It was one of those tragic events that struck all Americans equally across the country, and anyone who remembers that day can tell you exactly what they were doing.

My first experience with a similar event was January 28, 1986, when as a fourth grade student at Afton Elementary, a classmate walked in and told me that the Space Shuttle Challenger and exploded shortly after take off. That event is as vivid in my mind this day as the day it happened.

Fast-forward 15 years, to another classroom, this one in Arlington, Virginia, where as a first year law student at George Mason University I was preparing for my 9:30 Torts class. A classmate sitting at the back of the room suddenly interrupted my studies when she announced to everyone in the room that two planes had just crashed into the World Trade Center.

My first reaction was that either some air traffic controller had seriously screwed up, or there was some major fog in New York City. How else could two planes crash into a massive skyscraper? In my naïveté the concept of an intentional attack did not even enter my mind.

A few minutes later our Torts instructor entered the room, acknowledged the tragedy, but suggested we continue with class. His lecture lasted only 20 minutes before the same student raised her hand and announced that a plane had also hit the Pentagon and that bombs had allegedly gone off at the Capitol and the State Department. While the tragedy in New York would come to be the face of the 9/11 attacks, the Pentagon was in our backyard, situated less than four miles from the very classroom we were in. Class was immediately cancelled and we all went home in a state of confusion and disbelief.

For the rest of the day my wife and I sat glued to our television, dumbfounded that something like this could happen in America, saddened at the loss of life, and angered at the perpetrators of such violence. Over the next few days, as the country reeled from this attack, I experienced something unlike anything I have seen before or since. There was a unity and a connection between every single person I saw. I would strike up conversations with complete strangers at the grocery store as if I had known them for years. Drivers on the street were more polite. And in our nation’s capitol, where political conflict is the way of life, there were no Republicans and no Democrats. There were only Americans.

September 11, 2001 forever changed the world in we live. Since that day a lot has been learned about what happened leading up to the attacks. Controversial decisions have been made and the country has been divided over what the appropriate response should be. Political strife is once again the way of life in Washington, D.C. But as the 10 year anniversary of these attacks approaches I hope we can all sit back and reflect on that day. Remember for a moment the horror you felt that day, and be grateful that we have not experienced another attack since that time. Fly your flag at half-mast, in honor of those who died that day, and of those who have since died ensuring that that day will never happen again. And for one day, let us all set aside our political differences unite ourselves as Americans.