How do you explain 9/11 to a seven year old who has watched his father deploy twice in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom?

I’m good with words, I’d like to think. Yet explaining things of this magnitude to my son stump me.

He knows evil exists. He calls evil “bad guys.”

I explained to him how bad guys flew planes into the World Trade Center. I explained about the bad guys on Flight 93. I explained about the Pentagon. I tried to used terms he could understand.

The problem was: How could I use terms he could understand when 10 years later I still don’t understand? When I know it happened. When I remember the day as if it were yesterday, but it all seems surreal?

After I was done explaining he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “So Daddy deploys because of a plane and building?!” The tone of his voice incredulous. As if it was the most ridiculous reason he could think of to have his daddy ripped from him. I realized that my usually compassionate son could not grasp what had happened.

I gently explained it was more than that — far more. I tried again to explain about terrorists. Maybe he understood better this time.

So he asked the question, “Are the good guys winning, Mama?”

I answered without hesitation, “Yes, Son. We’re winning. The good guys are winning.”