At the time, I lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, so it was a bit earlier out in the Mountain timezone.
My wife at the time had a really early morning job, so she'd sneak out early and leave me to catch some more sleep. I had a TV in the bedroom that woke me up each morning tuned to CNN (yes...I'm a news junkie).
So it fired up in the morning, and it was between the two hits on the WTC, and there was smoke billowing out of the one. While I was watching, I saw a gray shape cut across the screen, and my first thought was "That looks like a United plane..." and boom.
I remember screaming at the idiot doing cometary on the TV when they asked "How is such an accident possible?" I'd already come to the conclusion that we were at war...and even as a Canadian, I felt that we were there with you, both as part of the NORAD system, and as part of the North Atlantic alliance, and the words of that treaty came to my mind unbidden at that moment: "An attack against one shall be an attack against them all."
I was proud of my country in the days following, the way that Canadians opened their homes to stranded travelers, the way that we stood shoulder to shoulder with out American brethren both at home, and in Afghanistan. I certainly would have preferred that Canadians take a more active role with our ally in Iraq, but it was not to be.
Today, I say as a proud Canadian, God Bless America, and thank you, America for taking the fight to the terrorists, not sitting back meekly waiting for the terrorists to bring the fight to us. Today, all freedom loving people are citizens of America, and I am proud to say "I am an American", if only for today.
