story9173.xml

story9173.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-03-28

September 11 marks the anniversary of the day that heartless terrorists attempted to bring our nation to it's knees. As a seventh grader in a city almost 2000 miles away from the World Trade Center towers and 1500 miles from the Pentagon, and with no relatives living outside of Texas, I was not directly affected by the events of September 11, 2001 any more than many of my fellow Americans. But at the same time, I was.
The bell signaling the end of first period rang and as I made my way down the hall to my science class, our principal made an announcement. I was able to hear, "...an apparent terrorist attack...planes flew into the World Trade Center towers in New York...school will not be cancelled." Confused, I went to science and sat through the period, the teacher saying nothing about the attacks or even referring to the principal's announcement. I was unable to focus, wondering what could possibly be wrong. When I went to my third period, our teacher had the television on. He was glued to the screen and I set my stuff down and watched in horror as the screen showed a commercial plane slamming into one of the WTC towers. We watched the news the whole period, some people talking and ignoring what was going on in our country. I desperately listened, trying to hold back the tears as they replayed the tapes and showed live footage of what was happening then. When the bell rang, I raced down the hall to my fourth period class and asked to use the phone. I called my mom from school crying, asking her what was going on. She insisted on picking me up from school, and so I left early and went home, ignoring my science homework and gluing myself to the TV all night. I watched the footage repeatedly and listened intently when the president addressed the nation. "This is a day when all Americans unite in our resolve for justice and peace." I remember him saying that, as well as him saying, "Terrorism against our nation will not stand." A few months later, I visited Ground Zero. Standing there staring at the site where America's Trade Center towers once stood, I felt so much at once. It was empowering, devastating, and even triumphant because I knew America had survived. They tried to hurt us, to wound our pride, but instead they made us stronger. They united us in a way that nothing else could have. All of the sudden, America felt the same pain, the same anguish, the same anger, even if at different levels. Envious and resentful of our freedom, they tried to take it away, to punish us for what America stood for: freedom, liberty, and unity. But they couldn't. They were successful in shaking us, in scaring us, but they failed to break us. America as a whole is too strong to let that happen, and that was proved on September 11.
September 11, 2001 didn't affect me directly, but whether or not I experienced the tragedy first hand, it still changed my life profoundly. In some ways, America will never be the same. But now, over a year and a half later, I find that we are forgetting. We are humans, and scientific studies prove that humans forget tragic events. We confuse, we rearrange, we scramble. And that is happening today. September 11 is not something to forget. It is not something that we can put in the back of our minds because it is not something that can be erased. After that day, we all came together as a country but now, as the war proceeds, we are dividing again. Once more, we have become individuals, when right now more than ever we need to be as one. After the attacks, everyone talked about unity. But if we want to be a united nation, we don't show it. One of the biggest forms of division is going on right now in America: not standing behind our leader. Whether we support him, detest him, resent him or cheer him on, Bush is still our leader. We need to stand behind him, even if we don't believe in the things he is doing. Keep that in mind, America.
Now I ask you one thing: to never forget September 11. Burn it inside your memory, because as painful as it is, it needs to be remembered. Each and every firefighter, business man or woman, police officer, and American citizen that died that day needs to be rememebered. For their sake, in honor of those who died, in remembrance of the day that shook America, and in dedication to what was sacrificed, remember. Just remember, America, that's all we need to do.
Here's some songs I reccomend to the patriotic soul:
*Have You Forgotten--Darryl Worley
*Only In America--Brooks and Dunn
*Please Remember Me--Tim McGraw
*America Will Always Stand--Randy Travis
*The Angry American--Toby Keith
*Where Were You--Alan Jackson
*Ain't That America--John Cougar Mellencamp
*God Bless The USA--Lee Greenwood
*American Child--Phil Vassar
*Born In The USA--Bruce Springsteen
*Where The Stars and Stripes...--Aaron Tippin
~NEVER FORGET 9-11-2001~

"All gave some, some gave all. Some stood through for the red, white, and blue...and some had to fall. And if you ever think of me, think of all your liberties and recall that some gave all."