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American Social History Project

The fateful morning of September 11, 2011, I was doing what most kids were doing--I was safe at school. As unhappy as I may have been to be up early and sitting in class, things could have been much worse. I live in a small town in Massachusetts. At the time, I was in the seventh grade. Initially when I heard of the attack, I was sitting in my computer education class. The teacher who taught the class was an old woman who had been in the school system for ages. She had taught my mother in the same course years before. The teacher herself was different to say the least, but that morning she was even more off than usual. We were all typing away, trying to learn how to type on the computer without looking at the keyboard. While we were doing so, she was acting very strange. She kept walking in and out of the dimly lit classroom into the hallway. She had asked if any of us had a radio in our lockers. I personally thought it was some kind of trick; we were not supposed to have that sort of technology in our lockers. What would be the purpose? Was this some sort of sick teacher trick?

Next thing I know, she turns the classroom television on. The images I saw were images I will never forget. It looked as though we were watching some sort of apocalyptic movie. I did not fully understand what was going on on tv, nor did I understand the full scale of the events. The images were dark and very smoky as the helicopter crews covered the New York City skyline. For the rest of the school day, classes were not held in their normal way. Even at lunch the faculty had put on the television for students and themselves to watch the events unfold.

I, luckily, unlike many of the kids who lived in and around New York City, was able to return to the safety of my own home that day to my parents, who both were also safe. We watched countless hours of tv coverage. I remember going to bed that night and writing in my diary, praying that whoever was responsible for the attacks to be brought to the hands of justice. I prayed for the those who were lost and their families.

The event made me realize at a young age that we are never completely safe from these types of attacks. There are malicious people in the world who will find ways to cause terror. Despite fighting back with wars and national security, there is always a chance that something similar could happen again. Terrorism is a scary thing to think about when you consider how so many unsuspecting, innocent civilians can be killed without any thought or compassion. And what about their families? It is such a horrible thought that there are people like that in the world willing to do such a thing to others.

I remembered the attacks on the 10th anniversary today with a lot of thoughts for those who lost their lives and for their families. The weather in my part of New England today was beautiful. I spent much of the time outside wondering if it could be possible for the individuals who were killed to be responsible for today's weather. Maybe they were looking down from above trying to tell their loved ones that they are okay and they want them to be happy to be alive. Despite the ugly attacks that occurred ten years ago, life is still a beautiful gift that must be cherished. It can be lost at any time. I can imagine that many of those who died would want their families to enjoy the moment and be grateful for those in life who are caring and compassionate, those who care strongly and lovingly for those who were lost, and want terrorism to end for good. I watched a couple different specials on tv and some news coverage on the ceremonies that took place at Ground Zero. I learned about many individuals who selflessly became heroes that day in order to save others. I personally believe that it is important to be proud to be from such a strong country and to never forget those who lost their lives or what happened to our nation ten years ago today.