nmah3007.xml

nmah3007.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-10

I heard the announcement that a plane flew into the World Trade Centr over the loudspeaker at the end of my Math class and passed the attack over as a typical plane crash. When I saw the footage later on in my Government class I began to realize the severity and implications of the situation. The quickness of the entire event seemed a bit unreal, but as the day winded on, I was grasping that thousands were really dead and that our government could definitely respond with force. Over the next couple of days, I watched an unprecedented amount of news in an attempt to find a new enemy that I could pin my anger on.

Although I was saddened by the loss of life from the terrorist attacks, my life has not been changed that much. The closest way the attacks affected me was a momentary fear that a large war would ensue and I would be drafted, but after a few weeks this fear subsided. I am concerned with the success and safety of the American troops in Afghanistan and I have spent personal time debating with myself on what the just response to the attacks is. Despite these concerns, I have not experienced any major emotional changes, nor do I fear for my safety.

September 11th should not only be remembered for the loss of life, but also as the day a "sleeping giant" was awakened. The complacency of our country was made obvious when many people expressed that the attack was unbelievable and they did not think it could happen. Warning memos were ignored and terrorist camps were left unattacked. The attack should lead to a national policy that eliminates threat when discovered, instead of allowing them to become lethal, because of indecisive public opinion.

I did not fly the flag after September 11th, because I did not fly it before. I did not feel that I had to prove anything by flying a flag. Trying to turn a terrorist attack that killed thousands of people into a positive event because of an ephemeral sense of patriotism is ignoring reality. The truth is that our country was attacked, and temporarily defeated, and thousands died. Tragedy does not increase my patriotism.