On September 11, 2001, the United States was violated by several acts of terrorism, which irrevocably changed our nation forever. Four planes crashed- two in New York City; one near Shanksville, PA; and one at the Pentagon- killing nearly 3,000 people, hurting countless more, and creating a fear that radiated around the world.
I had just begun fifth grade that year at a completely new school. I lived near Greenwich, Connecticut, a suburb of New York. From our beach growing up, the World Trade Centers were a prominent part of the horizon. Students’ names were being read aloud on the speaker system, but none of the events that occurred that day were relayed to the rest of the students. Little did I know that those students were the children of people who had been killed in the attacks. It wasn’t until my mom told me in the car that I learned of the tragedy that had struck New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.
In the days that followed, I began to learn of the increasing number of friends and family who were affected by these violent acts. I had a friend whose father was on the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. Another friend’s aunt lived in a nearby building and witnessed the planes hitting the buildings. Another friend’s father worked on the top floor of the first building and managed to escape walking from the World Trade Center to 125th Street in shock. My cousin was on his way to a job interview and was emerging from the subway at the time of the first attack. Perhaps the scariest part for me, as an 11 year old, was knowing that my dad was supposed to be near there that morning. He worked just a few buildings from the towers. If my mom had not made him go to an emergency dentist appointment, he would have been just getting off the subway at the World Trade Center as the planes hit. Although I personally was not near the attack, it still greatly affected me knowing that the people around me were so greatly hurt by these unthinkable acts of terrorism.
Since then, I, like the rest of country, have worked to restore my faith and trust in the national government and in the ability of our nation to work together. While these acts of terrorism instilled the fear in us that the terrorists set out to create, the American public did not divide. Rather, we united together against this act of aggression and we continue working to bring the threats to our nation to an end.
Monuments have been erected in both our hearts and in physical form around the country. In New York City, where the World Trade Center towers were located, twin reflecting pools have been created, each with a footprint created by one of the towers. In addition, the names of each person killed during these attacks and during the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993 are carved into bronze panels that edge the pools. There is also a museum filled with accounts, artifacts and other important pieces, creating a moving testimony to these horrible events.
In Shanksville, PA, another memorial was built honoring the forty people who died on Flight 93 after regaining control of the plane and crashing it into a field. A black concrete plaza in the shape of a wing and other features, such as a white wall marking the angle of descent and a rock representing the point of impact, are used to commemorate those lives lost.
To honor the events that occurred in Washington, D.C., the Pentagon Memorial uses benches to preserve the memory of those who lost their lives. They are placed throughout the memorial, each with a name of a person lost on either Flight 77 or in the Pentagon. The benches are placed in age order, with the lines going from youngest to oldest. These three tributes ensure that the memory of those taken from us will live on in the hearts and minds of family, friends, and even strangers, forever.
As the tenth anniversary approaches, many people will visit these memorials to pay tribute to those who died on September 11th, honoring their memory. For others, such as myself, who are unable to visit, we pay tribute to those in our hearts and minds on that day. We will keep those who passed away alive in our hearts and move forward, as we have for the past ten years, towards a safer, brighter future. As English poet Laurence Binyon wrote in his poem, “For the Fallen”, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani later quoted at a 2008 ceremony honoring the victims of the attacks:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning.
We will remember them.
We shall always remember them.
Sources:
http://www.911memorial.org/about-memorial
http://www.911memorial.org/museum
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/911-memorials-at-the-world…
http://pentagonmemorial.org/explore/interactive-map
http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/Giuliani-quotes-For-The-Fallen-in-911-…
http://www.army.gov.au/traditions/documents/ode.htm
http://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm
Photo Sources:
http://www.911memorial.org/photo-albums/911-memorial-renderings
http://www.history.com/flight-93-pre-event
http://pentagonmemorial.org/explore/biographies/photo-gallery