Almost ten years ago now, on September 11th 2001, two planes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City. These terrorist attacks, plotted by the Al Queda leader Osama Bin Laden, killed more than 3,000 people. I was six years old. I can remember that morning, I was just up and getting ready for school when my aunt called my house from across the street. My mom rushed down the stairs to turn on the TV but there was nothing but fuzz because the antennas we got our reception from were on the Towers.(We were living in New Jersey at the time, right across the bay from Manhattan.) So we went to my aunt's house where there was cable. I can still remember sitting in the back room watching the footage over and over again. At the time, I didn't understand it, but it was still something impossible to forget.

For many kids across the country the same age as me and older, I'm sure it was the same thing. This was something we as kids had no choice but to pay attention to. It was something that affected everybody's life and that everybody knew about. It was something we could understand and we could be angry about, that someone had attacked our country.

So when the news was announced late last night that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, our generation was the first to know. We were all awake, all online, and we saw the news headlines start popping up. We knew first. We made Facebook statuses, tweeted and re-tweeted, woke up sleeping parents, and made phone calls. We ran out into the street cheering and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, sang God Bless America, and proudly held up the American flag. The youth of America alerted the entire world that justice had been served. Bin Laden is dead. We got him.

But why is it that when you watch the footage of the cheering crowds last night almost all you see are young adult faces? Why is this particular event so important to us?

The way I feel about it, and I'm sure these feelings are shared by other teens all around the country, is that this is the first time when we could feel the full force of true patriotism. We remember what 9/11 was like, and how those deaths impacted the nation. We remember the way the country came together after that tragedy. We all felt the same anger that someone would dare attack us on our own soil. And now that America has scored this victory, we as the young American citizens can now feel that incredible sense of unity. We can feel what it's like to be one with the entire country in our moment of triumph. Finally, we feel that this is truly OUR victory. For the first time, the youth of America feels like we are truly a part of "WE the people."

And now we are proving to the world that even our generation still has that fierce love for their country.

God bless our troops. God bless America.

Statuses Posted On Facebook After Hearing the News:

"Osama Bin Laden is finally dead! USA! USA!" May 1st, '11

"Peace out Bin Laden!" May 1st, '11

"Bye, bye, Bin Laden." May 1st, '11

"Bin Laden's DEAD." May 1st, '11

"Osama Bin Laden ~ you lost the game" May 2nd, '11

"Obama-1, Osama-0" May 2nd, '11