nmah1512.xml

nmah1512.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-08

When I first heard the news about the attack I was sitting in my second hour Civics class. He turned on the television in our room and what we saw was total chaos. It was terrifying. I actually witnessed the collapse of the second tower. All we heard about that day was the terrorist attack. It was all so sudden and hard to believe. I guess I was kind of in shock. What had happened really didn't sink in until I got home from school that day and saw my mother crying in front of the television. I couldn't watch anything on T.V. for nearly a week because it was just too emotional.

My life has changed, but it wasn't too drastic. Just little things. Security has gotten tighter, and everywhere I go people seem just a little bit more suspicious of one another. We don't have as much trust anymore. I'm constantly hearing rumors about future terrorist attacks, and I think that's making everyone a bit edgy. A lot more people have become more patriotic as well as religous, including myself. I don't take my freedom for granted anymore. I appreciate it more than I ever have.

We, of course, need to remember the people that gave their lives for us that day, but we also need to remember what our country means. September 11th reminded us that we live in a free country. We are a lot better off than many people around the world and we should never forget that. We also need to remember how we came together and helped out in all the ways that we could. Too often the people in America are selfish and greedy. On September 11th we forgot about money and only wanted to help others.

Yes, my family put the flag up that day. Since September 11th I have become much more patriotic. The flag means more to me now. It's a symbol of unity now. We call our country the United States of America. September 11 was the first time I really felt our country was truly united. The flag is a symbol of that. I think that every time I see an American flag I'll think of the tragic day of September 11th.