Last week we remembered the tragedy of the attacks on September 11th, 2001. On this day, America was attacked. Many people were affected by these terrible attacks on the nation, whether born before or after they happened. The latter is the group the student body is a part of. Talking with some people who were affected during the attacks, such as teachers, family, and friends, we learn the small stories of how people were affected by such a tragic event on the thought to be the invincible United States.
People of a younger age have different feelings about September 11th, all sincere, yet they weren’t even alive during the attacks. One reason could be because of the national holiday every year on which students are taught of the damage and destruction of people’s lives and feelings; this contributes to a feeling of sympathy towards victims and the people who lived during the time.
People of an older age have similar feelings towards the situation, although they were doing very different things during the time of the attacks. Mr. Belcik’s (AP U.S. History Teacher) lecture on the subject was a very mournful experience. He went into great detail about how the attacks played out and who the perpetrators were. His way of describing the whole situation was very intellectual and informative and really put a whole new perspective on the attacks. He mentioned that during the attacks he was only about 3 years old but his study on the whole subject was very extensive and thorough. Some have said that the whole world was at somewhat of a “standstill’’ and the whole nation was in a state of sadness
Some moments that speak a thousand words are the clips of baseball games referring to the attacks, such as the clip of former President George W. Bush throwing the ceremonial first pitch shortly after the attacks (October 3, 2001) in New York or when the word got out that Osama Bin Laden (perpetrator of the attacks on 9/11) was killed (May 1st, 2011) and the entire ballpark erupted into a U.S.A. chant that is broadcast on prime-time television.
In conclusion, September 11th was a day to remember the tragedies and to remember the lives that were lost in the attacks. It was a day on which the United States felt vulnerable and scared. It not only had short-term effects but also carried long-term effects. One of those was the change in air travel. As we know it today, air security is the highest it’s ever been. It also created an entire war that lasted a little less than a decade. Overall, we take a day every year to remember one day in U.S. history that will forever be remembered.
