SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

Walking down the block earlier this evening, I saw the light in the night sky which told everyone that today was the anniversary of September 11. 15 years ago on that day, the two towers that stood proudly in Manhattan were destroyed, along with flight 93 and an attack that was made on the Pentagon. 4 planes that held so many people died that day. For hate, bigotry and misunderstandings that are still going on even today. So much death and destruction..... I can’t even begin to imagine the fear, sadness and anger felt for those who survived the day or who knew they were going to die.

I was only 9 years old at the time, but I still remember where I was. We were in class when we suddenly heard army choppers and jets flying low enough for us to hear and to be frightened. We had no idea what was going on. Suddenly someone comes into the classroom and whispers something into my teacher’s ear. She turns deathly pale and turns to us and says, “Girls, the Twin Towers collapsed.” We didn’t understand at the time what that meant, but we eventually learned what that meant. We were sent home from school shortly after. The solemness and sadness that surrounded the situation didn’t make leaving school early a joyous occasion, as it usually was. We all marched home and learned more as the events unfolded.

We saw people jump to their deaths in hopes that they might be saved or that death would be swift because they knew that they wouldn’t be saved. There were so many acts of bravery and people coming together to help and try to save as many lives as they could. Volunteers showed up in spades to assist the firemen, policemen and the EMT’s to bring as many people to safety as possible. While it was sad to see such an event bring a country together, the unity was something that brought tears to one’s eyes.

Shortly after the story of the towers falling, two other attacks came to light. One attack that was issued on the Pentagon and while slightly successful, it only accomplished half of the damage that it set out to do, and Flight 93… The flight that was determined to make sure that no one else died. The flight of brave people who were determined to bring down the plane so that no more people could get hurt, even though they knew that they were going to die. Only when I was older did I hear that the last words, “Let’s roll,” did it really hit and cause me to cry because even though they knew that death was near, they weren’t going down without a fight.

FDR once said that, “December 7, 1941 is a day that will live in infamy.” Unfortunately, I think that September 11, 2001 is a day that we will never forget as well. It is a day of sadness and the reflection of the lives lost and the brave souls who did everything that they could to stop the monsters from winning.