Seven years. How quickly we forget.

As I aimlessly surfed channels, I accidentally landed on the History Channel. The next two hours of my night were swallowed in images of chaos and tragedy.

The channel was showing a special about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that featured footage taken by news channels and civilians. I saw the faces of New Yorkers as they realized that this was not going to be another typical workday. I saw people trapped in Tower 2 as they hung out the windows with black smoke billowing behind them. I saw the towers fall, knowing that hundreds of workers and firefighters were still inside. Even more powerful than that, I saw the expressions on the faces of those who saw it happening.

I felt sick. I tried to walk away from the TV several times, but I kept coming back because I knew that I needed to remember that day ... and I'm not the only one who's forgotten.

At one point in the show, a man being interviewed after the first tower fell said, "We should just go over to the Middle East and start blowing things up!" Irrational? Perhaps. But I think every American said or thought that at some point that day and in the weeks that followed, when the shock gave way to righteous anger.

Time has erased much of the pain we felt on that day, but it's also erased the anger. When we see Osama bin Laden's image in the news, we need to feel that anger again. When we look at the place where the towers once stood, we need to feel that anger again. And when we hear news of the conflict in the Middle East, yes, especially then, we need to remember what this country has been through and what brought us to this place in history.

The terrorists declared war on America that day, and they have never stopped plotting their next move against us. They celebrated that day. We need to remember that.