Today is a day most of us will never forget. I say most of us, because there are already those now a days that did not live through it, and learn from is from school books. But I can say I remember the day America stood still.
September 11th, 2001
You can ask a lot of people where they were that day, and they remember all too well. I myself was in elementary school still. I remember my teacher, Mr. Hernandez, being approached by another of our teachers. They started by whispering quietly among each other. That eventually led to our teacher turning on the TV, even though moments later the PA would come on and ask teachers to turn on the TV anyways.
What you saw on the TV was shocking, and confusing. It looked like something out of a movie. One of the large buildings in New York City was hit by a plane. At first everyone thought, this is an accident... bad judgement or pilot error. It wasn't until we saw the second plane hit the sister tower that we knew something was different.
Parents raced to get their kids out of school. My mother picked me and my cousin up, then trailed us to the middle school to pick up my brother and cousin. We then went straight home and turned on the TV again. I may have been young, but I understood that something was wrong. I remember asking my mom, "why would someone do that though?" in disbelief. As news of more planes coming down kept coming in.
America stood still that day, and it changed us going forward. Life stood still for a while. We were not untouchable, and it was something we were extremely aware of now. People stopped traveling for a while... people were scared.
Looking back I now understand that living a part of history and reading about it are two different things. I know the younger generations still learn about this is school. But they can't answer the question "Where were you when America stood still?".
Today we honor those who lost their lives. Those who were in those unfortunate aircrafts. The first responders who rushed in to help, everyday people who risked their lives in the face of a disaster. People walking down the street who weren't expecting something to happen that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We honor New Work City and the damage they suffered. Lastly, we honor America, because we were a nation who was damaged, but not defeated. We bound together; unified in our joint disbelief and sorrows and came out strong. In times of disparity we need to look back on this time and remember that no matter our differences and issues we may have, we are still America strong.
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