It seemed apocalyptic.
On the morning of Sept. 11, two hijacked passenger aircraft slammed into the World Trade Center, another crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth -- possibly headed for Washington -- went down in rural Pennsylvania.
Confusion ensued as Congress, the Empire State Building and other US landmarks were evacuated. White House staffers were told to flee the building. US President George W. Bush was in the air, on the run. All commercial flights were grounded.
The United States was under attack.
The world watched in horror. Two fuel-laden, guided missiles slicing through the twin towers. People falling -- or jumping -- to their deaths. The towers collapsing. Thousands feared dead.
When it was finally over, Bush was back in the Oval Office, calling the attacks "acts of war."
It was a different America.
Information emerged that the coordinated attacks were likely the work of Muslim extremists with connections to Saudi-dissident Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network. War seemed imminent.
But where the attacks did not succeed was in crippling American resolve. Americans overwhelmed blood donation centers. Volunteers rushed to aid rescue efforts, donations to relief funds poured in.
Still, a few Arab-Americans were killed or beaten. Some Muslims felt Islam itself was under attack.
Voices called on the US to examine its foreign policy, as critics said an indifference to events outside its shores left America vulnerable to attack.
The verdict is still out on whether the attacks will mark a new period of American isolationism or an erosion of civil liberties.
What is painfully obvious is that the world is changed.
President Bush said that on Sept. 11, "Every death extinguished a world."
The most recent count puts the lives lost at 3,173, a number New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani had said would be "more than we can bear."
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