On Sept. 11, 2001, planes hijacked by the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa. The attacks killed thousands and injured many more.
At the time, the attack was a shock and a mystery. All that was understood with upmost clarity was that our nation’s sense of security — not threatened since the fall of the Soviet Union — had been shattered.
Most of us were only in grade school when it happened, trying to understand the implications of a television clip that played on a seemingly endless loop. We didn’t know why our parents and teachers looked so terrified. We couldn’t realize the somber significance this event would bring in the future.
From that day forward, nothing was the same.
Lives were lost and the formerly strong bonds of national confidence were frayed. People lived in fear and turned their sorrow into anger.
In airports, security increased tenfold. Tension among certain ethnic and religious groups became palpable.
However, we began to rebuild.
We don’t live in a country of quitters or whiners. We live in a country of survivors. Even in that tough time, even when no one seemed to know what would be happening a year from then, we pulled through and eventually pulled together.
On ordinary days, 9/11 does not enter many peoples’ minds. Time has passed and begun to heal our wounded country. Sometimes, people allow themselves to believe everything is as it once was.
But what about those who have a loved one overseas fighting for our well-being? What about those who lost a parent or a child in that attack, and suffer in the knowledge of it every day? Those people are forced to acknowledge that things are not, in fact, how they once were.
Even though we are strong and brave, we are not infallible. The kind of monumental duress our country went through does not just evaporate. There is no quick fix for tragedy.
Even today, even when you don’t realize it, events happen around us that are direct outcomes of that one September day eleven years ago. We’re all affected by it.
On this anniversary, it’s important to take time to remember the lives that were lost, the brave soldiers that were and continue to fight and the way ignorance and hate continue to affect our lives because of the 9/11 tragedy.
In the hustle of everyday life we temporarily lose sight of the weight of that day, but we can’t fail to remember its impact.
— Amber Estes is a sophomore from Athens majoring in public relations
At the time, the attack was a shock and a mystery. All that was understood with upmost clarity was that our nation’s sense of security — not threatened since the fall of the Soviet Union — had been shattered.
Most of us were only in grade school when it happened, trying to understand the implications of a television clip that played on a seemingly endless loop. We didn’t know why our parents and teachers looked so terrified. We couldn’t realize the somber significance this event would bring in the future.
From that day forward, nothing was the same.
Lives were lost and the formerly strong bonds of national confidence were frayed. People lived in fear and turned their sorrow into anger.
In airports, security increased tenfold. Tension among certain ethnic and religious groups became palpable.
However, we began to rebuild.
We don’t live in a country of quitters or whiners. We live in a country of survivors. Even in that tough time, even when no one seemed to know what would be happening a year from then, we pulled through and eventually pulled together.
On ordinary days, 9/11 does not enter many peoples’ minds. Time has passed and begun to heal our wounded country. Sometimes, people allow themselves to believe everything is as it once was.
But what about those who have a loved one overseas fighting for our well-being? What about those who lost a parent or a child in that attack, and suffer in the knowledge of it every day? Those people are forced to acknowledge that things are not, in fact, how they once were.
Even though we are strong and brave, we are not infallible. The kind of monumental duress our country went through does not just evaporate. There is no quick fix for tragedy.
Even today, even when you don’t realize it, events happen around us that are direct outcomes of that one September day eleven years ago. We’re all affected by it.
On this anniversary, it’s important to take time to remember the lives that were lost, the brave soldiers that were and continue to fight and the way ignorance and hate continue to affect our lives because of the 9/11 tragedy.
In the hustle of everyday life we temporarily lose sight of the weight of that day, but we can’t fail to remember its impact.
— Amber Estes is a sophomore from Athens majoring in public relations