September 11, 2001, a day like any other for me. I was a fourth grader just starting the school year. It was a clear and beautiful morning as I kissed my mom and dad goodbye and boarded the bus. Little did I know that in a mere hour, everything would change for Americans.
If you ask most people our age where they were on that day, they will be able to tell you. I am transported back to my fourth grade classroom as a very loud beep came over the loudspeakers. Words came over the speakers from our principal, “Attention all faculty, there has been an incident that just occurred. Please do not turn on the televisions, we will e-mail you all what has happened.” The mystery in the message led my classmates to believe we were being abducted by aliens. Minutes later, classmates were being called down to the office for early dismissal. Since I only lived an hour away from New York City, some of the students in my class had parents that worked in the city.
At dismissal, I went home to go about my daily activities: homework and cartoons. But when I turned on the television something was different. Today, the only thing that filled all the channels was a news reel of two smoking towers and the collapse of each one. After I had finished my homework, my dad took me to the local beach by his work in Westport, CT. Usually as I looked out over the water, I could see the skyline of New York City but today it was black smoke smothering the sky. I was looking at the smoke from the Towers that had been hit. What had happened to cause all of this? The mind of a fourth grader could not grasp the idea of terrorists deliberately flying planes into buildings.
At the time, I didn’t realize how much everything changed from the moment the Towers were hit. Families nationwide were affected; mine included. My dad, a fireman, had friends who were sent to cover for FDNY firefighters at Ground Zero. One of my uncles was supposed to have a meeting in the North Tower that day but the speaker was not able to board his flight to New York. Men and women alike joined together more than had ever been experienced in my lifetime. Firefighters and Port Authority workers ran into the towers while everyone else was running out and to safety. Two men did not stop until they got to the 91st floor, only three floors below the inferno. They saved over sixty lives that would have most likely been lost. They put their lives down just to save other people. FDNY alone lost 343 men and women who responded to the call of duty that day. Americans banded together in the face of something awful.
For months after September 11, people tied yellow ribbons around tree trunks or mailboxes in the front yard to support the troops. American flags could be seen in almost every store window. We shouldn’t just remember these people and what happened on September 11 one day a year. It should be a constant reminder of the patriotism and brotherhood or sisterhood that Americans have. We should all be proud to live in this amazing country where we are free to do, say, and even write what we want. We can express our feelings. That day changed lives forever.
Over the past ten years, I have realized that at the time of the attacks I didn’t fully comprehend what was going on. Even then I still felt something and remember that compassion for the people in the buildings that were hit. Ten years later, my thoughts rest with the family and friends of people that were lost. So hang a flag or just stop and think for a moment on 9/11. Remember not only what happened, but how the nation came together in the face of terrorism.
September 11, 2001 forever in the hearts and minds of Americans, never forget.