Opinion: The Afghanistan war lessons that we cannot forget

I was on Capitol Hill on September 11, 2001, when I first learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center. As I was driving away from the Capitol, I saw the smoke from the plane that struck the Pentagon. With air traffic halted, my flight home was canceled, I struggled to get a rental car to drive across the country to get home to my family in California. As I drove on I-80 through our nation, I witnessed the American spirit — homemade signs of God bless America, flags on display, and the strength and determination of the American people to never allow such an attack to happen again.