“When I go out on a beautiful day, I look up and I go, “That sky is September 11th blue.””

So says former American Airlines ticket agent Vaughn Allex, who is haunted by the memory of the day 11 years ago when he checked in two of the five hijackers who crashed Flight 77 into the Pentagon.

For so many of us, the beautiful blue sky on 9/11/01 is such a vivid memory. How could the picture perfect, pristine beauty of a late summer morning give way to the horror that followed? Over the years how many of us, with heavy hearts, have looked at a beautiful blue September sky and thought “that sky is September 11th blue.”

May God bless all who were lost and heal the hearts of all who are left behind. View the slideshow here.