September 11, 2001
Growing up, history was always my least favorite subject. I was inconsiderate and figured that if something had already happened, I wasn't going to impact it in any way and there was no reason for me to learn about it. Of course, I later realized the importance of history and its construction of the country I live in today, but not without a fight.
We all have a moment in history that will forever be etched in our minds. My great-grandparents had WWI and WWII, my grandparents had the Kennedy assassination and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, my parents had....hmmm Nixon? Carter? Ya know, I'll have to get back to ya on what their true, defining moment in history was. For myself and all of the above mentioned people combined, September 11, 2001, will forever be a day of remembrance. Aside from the 4th and 24th of July, it's the only day in history that is known by it's actual date of occurrence, and we all have a story of exactly where we were when we heard the news.
I was merely 12 years old and had just started 7th grade at Bonneville Junior High (aka the worst school year of my life, haha.) I remember waking up that Tuesday morning to get ready for school and walking out to the kitchen just before 7 AM, Mountain Time. My mom was watching TV and told me about a plane hitting a building in New York City. At first, I thought absolutely nothing of it. I went in the living room, turned on the TV, and didn't understand why the news of this crash was all over every channel. I'll admit, I was being insensitive and should have been more considerate, we all simply didn't realize the severity of the situation yet.
My dad then took me to the bus stop up the street and I was off to school. When I arrived, of course, everyone was talking about the crash. I headed to my 1st period class, keyboarding (where I learned to type 100+ WPM, haha) and we immediately started watching Channel One, the news program that played each morning before the school announcements. When we learned the news that the second tower had been hit, I remember several people crying, specifically one girl, Bergandee, sitting next to me. I don't know if it was because I was so young or so naive, but I still did not understand why people were crying and making a huge fuss about it. We had a moment of silence, lead by President Bush after he made the comment "the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts." How true that statement later turned out to be when Osama Bin Laden was killed in 2011.
It is difficult to grasp the concept that this horrible event occurred 10 years ago, yet the images of the World Trade Center remain so vivid that it honestly feels like it were only yesterday. Thanks to the internet and YouTube, this day and all of the events that took place at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania will forever be documented and just a click away.
Even after watching various documentaries this week during the 10th anniversary, and even spending hours on a website, http://www.archive.org/details/911, which, archived all of the news videos/stories from all over the world and websites relating to that day, I still find it hard to believe that the world is filled with such terrible people and how God could let something like this happen. Of course, there were also countless conspiracy websites that are rather convincing in telling readers that the United States government was behind 9/11, but then again, you almost can't believe anything on the internet these days.
I feel almost nostalgic (certainly not in the sense that I want to go back to that day) with how much I have been looking back and watching all the videos from 9/11. I watched a documentary, 102 Minutes That Changed America, and could not take my eyes off of it. It was absolutely terrifying, but incredibly fascinating to hear the stories of the survivors surrounding the WTC that day. I also watched a documentary, The Man Who Predicted 9/11, about Rick Rescorla, a true hero.
Along with these documentaries, I've been glued to YouTube and the archive website above watching videos. I have listened to several last calls made by victims on Flight 93, Flight 11, and even calls from people stuck at the top of the buildings. One specific call made from Kevin Cosgrove was one I wish I had never heard. Hearing the voice of a victim and hearing his him say "Oh God" right before the call hung-up and the tower collasped was by far the most horrific and chilling thing I've heard in my life. Hearing the "Heaven" song with the voice of a little girl saying "I miss you, Daddy" following 9/11, 5 years later and again 10 years later, was also heartbreaking. There were also plenty of videos showing people jumping out of the windows of the WTC, something that the news stations in the US shied away from, for obvious reasons. Truly and utterly disturbing. I cannot imagine being in such a place where my life is in so much danger that I have no choice but to jump 90+ stories to my death. I can't imagine being a loved one of a victim and learning of his/her fate. I wouldn't believe it. I
While I was once insensitive when I just heard the news that Tuesday morning, I feel that 10 years later, my remorse and sympathy is overwhelming. I can't get these images out of my head. I can't believe it's been so long and we are still at war, killing more and more US soldiers to fight for our freedom that I'm so grateful to have. When is enough, enough? When will the war end and the families of 9/11 victims feel somewhat at peace?
September 11th is such a crucial, memorable day in history, yet plenty of young children today know nothing of it. My niece, Tessa, was born 5 years following 9/11 and has no idea what happened that day. When I tried to tell her the (censored) story of 9/11, she plugged her ears and didn't want to learn about it. (She is like her momma and hates school already, but hasn't even started yet.) She will one day be forced to learn about it in history class and will probably be just as bored as I was when I learned about WWI, WWII, Vietnam, etc, events that were so memorable to my great-grandparents. I can only imagine what horrible things will happen in the future that Tessa will never forget. I certainly hope and pray for world peace, but I cannot be so optimistic when history has such a horrific track record....
We all have a moment in history that will forever be etched in our minds. My great-grandparents had WWI and WWII, my grandparents had the Kennedy assassination and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, my parents had....hmmm Nixon? Carter? Ya know, I'll have to get back to ya on what their true, defining moment in history was. For myself and all of the above mentioned people combined, September 11, 2001, will forever be a day of remembrance. Aside from the 4th and 24th of July, it's the only day in history that is known by it's actual date of occurrence, and we all have a story of exactly where we were when we heard the news.
I was merely 12 years old and had just started 7th grade at Bonneville Junior High (aka the worst school year of my life, haha.) I remember waking up that Tuesday morning to get ready for school and walking out to the kitchen just before 7 AM, Mountain Time. My mom was watching TV and told me about a plane hitting a building in New York City. At first, I thought absolutely nothing of it. I went in the living room, turned on the TV, and didn't understand why the news of this crash was all over every channel. I'll admit, I was being insensitive and should have been more considerate, we all simply didn't realize the severity of the situation yet.
My dad then took me to the bus stop up the street and I was off to school. When I arrived, of course, everyone was talking about the crash. I headed to my 1st period class, keyboarding (where I learned to type 100+ WPM, haha) and we immediately started watching Channel One, the news program that played each morning before the school announcements. When we learned the news that the second tower had been hit, I remember several people crying, specifically one girl, Bergandee, sitting next to me. I don't know if it was because I was so young or so naive, but I still did not understand why people were crying and making a huge fuss about it. We had a moment of silence, lead by President Bush after he made the comment "the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts." How true that statement later turned out to be when Osama Bin Laden was killed in 2011.
It is difficult to grasp the concept that this horrible event occurred 10 years ago, yet the images of the World Trade Center remain so vivid that it honestly feels like it were only yesterday. Thanks to the internet and YouTube, this day and all of the events that took place at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania will forever be documented and just a click away.
Even after watching various documentaries this week during the 10th anniversary, and even spending hours on a website, http://www.archive.org/details/911, which, archived all of the news videos/stories from all over the world and websites relating to that day, I still find it hard to believe that the world is filled with such terrible people and how God could let something like this happen. Of course, there were also countless conspiracy websites that are rather convincing in telling readers that the United States government was behind 9/11, but then again, you almost can't believe anything on the internet these days.
I feel almost nostalgic (certainly not in the sense that I want to go back to that day) with how much I have been looking back and watching all the videos from 9/11. I watched a documentary, 102 Minutes That Changed America, and could not take my eyes off of it. It was absolutely terrifying, but incredibly fascinating to hear the stories of the survivors surrounding the WTC that day. I also watched a documentary, The Man Who Predicted 9/11, about Rick Rescorla, a true hero.
Along with these documentaries, I've been glued to YouTube and the archive website above watching videos. I have listened to several last calls made by victims on Flight 93, Flight 11, and even calls from people stuck at the top of the buildings. One specific call made from Kevin Cosgrove was one I wish I had never heard. Hearing the voice of a victim and hearing his him say "Oh God" right before the call hung-up and the tower collasped was by far the most horrific and chilling thing I've heard in my life. Hearing the "Heaven" song with the voice of a little girl saying "I miss you, Daddy" following 9/11, 5 years later and again 10 years later, was also heartbreaking. There were also plenty of videos showing people jumping out of the windows of the WTC, something that the news stations in the US shied away from, for obvious reasons. Truly and utterly disturbing. I cannot imagine being in such a place where my life is in so much danger that I have no choice but to jump 90+ stories to my death. I can't imagine being a loved one of a victim and learning of his/her fate. I wouldn't believe it. I
While I was once insensitive when I just heard the news that Tuesday morning, I feel that 10 years later, my remorse and sympathy is overwhelming. I can't get these images out of my head. I can't believe it's been so long and we are still at war, killing more and more US soldiers to fight for our freedom that I'm so grateful to have. When is enough, enough? When will the war end and the families of 9/11 victims feel somewhat at peace?
September 11th is such a crucial, memorable day in history, yet plenty of young children today know nothing of it. My niece, Tessa, was born 5 years following 9/11 and has no idea what happened that day. When I tried to tell her the (censored) story of 9/11, she plugged her ears and didn't want to learn about it. (She is like her momma and hates school already, but hasn't even started yet.) She will one day be forced to learn about it in history class and will probably be just as bored as I was when I learned about WWI, WWII, Vietnam, etc, events that were so memorable to my great-grandparents. I can only imagine what horrible things will happen in the future that Tessa will never forget. I certainly hope and pray for world peace, but I cannot be so optimistic when history has such a horrific track record....
posted by Britani and Levi at
11:38 PM
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