Ten years. We’ve come a long way, but have much work to do.

Ten years have passed since our world — the entire world — changed with the most brazen attack on native soil since Dec. 7, 1941. Much like that date — the one that lives in infamy — Sept. 11, 2001, forever will be a part of the fabric of this nation. On that day, evil showed itself in the form of fanatics hell-bent on tearing down America.

The targets were New York and Washington, D.C., but those were the tangible targets. The targets were all of us. Our enemies — and they were, are and will continue to be our enemies — had America in the sights. They attacked Vicksburg and Pensacola, Detroit and Seattle. Patriotic Americans had the same hollow feeling in the pits of their stomachs — a gumbo of fear, anger and tears.

We wept for those who lost their lives in New York, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field — all hallowed ground now. We stood together under a common flag with common ideals. We stood together in the face of evil. We hold the image of then-President George W. Bush standing among the World Trade Center rubble, arm around a fireman who had been digging through that rubble for days, and we felt pride alongside our heartbreak.

In the 10 years that have followed, America has plunged itself deeply into two wars — in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The way we live has changed, from boarding an airplane to trying to visit national monuments. Our guard has been forced to remain high because it could happen again.

There have been other attempts.

• On Christmas Day 2009, officials say, a Nigerian-born man attempted to detonate plastic explosives on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. The device, hidden in the man’s underwear, did not go off. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused in the case and is in jail awaiting trial.

• Two street vendors helped foil an attack in New York’s Times Square in May 2010 when they reported smoke coming from an SUV. A Pakistani-born man was arrested 30 days later.

Intelligence and defense officials likely have foiled other attempts as well. Our military has dealt crippling blows to elements intent on reliving September 11. Al-Qaida’s leadership ranks are in shambles and the masterminds of the horrific attack are dead or incarcerated. Despite that, the threats continue.

Overall, America 10 years since that morning is safer. But we are not safe. As long as we continue to cherish being free, the risk of one person or a group using that freedom as an advantage to attack us is still great. We must continue to be diligent. We must continue to stay ahead. We must continue to be Americans.

Today, we remember that horrible morning a decade ago. We will honor the innocent dead. We will honor those brave men and women who charged forward in the direst of circumstances. We will honor the hallowed Pennsylvania field. And, hopefully, we will find a way to unite ourselves again, much like we did 10 short years ago.