September 11, 2001, is a day that will not be forgotten soon.

The sadness and shock we felt while watching the North Tower burning after being struck by an airliner, and the horror we felt as we watched the South Tower get hit will stay with us forever.

Another memory that won't soon be forgotten is what happened on September 12, 2001: America came together. As one.

Stores sold out of American Flags, neighbors seemed to be kinder to one another, friends checked up on friends, and strangers pitched in to help those in need. It was the first time in a long time since Americans became united in this way - probably not seen since World War II.

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This year, on the 21st anniversary of the attacks on New York, The Pentagon, and the doomed flight that went down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, some of those same Americans came together, again. This time, it was in a football stadium, just 5 miles from where the Twin Towers once stood.

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At the beginning of the National Football League's Sunday game between the New York Jets and the Baltimore Ravens, the American National Anthem was performed, as is customary.

What happened next blew me away.

As the singer, in full New York Police Department dress, began the anthem, everything was normal.

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed . . .

That's when the NYPD officer lowered the microphone.

That's also when the crowd took over.

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As the camera pans through the crowd, you can see people of all ages coming together to sing the Star-Spangled Banner as one country.

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As one people.

It's videos like these that give me hope that, one day, we may become united again of our own volition, and not only in response to some horrible tragedy.

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