Always Remember to Never Forget

Dedicated to the men, women, children, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents who lost their lives and to anyone that lost someone they loved on September 11, 2001. Dedicated to the brave men and women who responded to the emergency calls and to the Good Samaritans who risked everything to try to help others in their time of need. Dedicated to the men and women in uniform that have fought the War on Terror since this horrible massacre.

Thank you to all of you.









This title was given to me on one of my Facebook statuses when I was asking for ideas on what to write about. I think the person that put it there meant it to be something along the lines of making sure you remember to not forget to do things. But to me, that phrase seemed to be more appropriate for a blog in remembrance of today’s history.

 

I was in the eighth grade on September 11, 2001. It started out as a normal day and had progressed as a normal day up to the beginning of second period – Algebra with Mr. Daye. My friend, Amy, was in the class with me. We would always write notes to each other with our graphic calculators and pass them to each other so I sat down to write the first note to her.

Out of nowhere, our principal came running into the room and asked to speak with him and stepped out of the room for a minute. He came back in with his face as pale as a sheet and abruptly turned on the television. At that point, we all knew something was seriously wrong so we stopped talking. He stopped at one of the news channels where it was showing the Twin Towers in NYC. One of the towers was on fire. He stood there, motionless, as he watched the video on the screen and listened to what was being said. The silence in the room was deafening. I don’t think I had ever heard a silence like it was in that room up to that point or even since then. At this point, the headline read something to the effect of there being a horrible accident.

The camera had switched back to showing the news anchor in the studio and in the background someone said “oh my God”. The screen suddenly flipped back to showing the towers but this time, both of them were on fire instead of just the one. They split the screen to where the news anchor was on the left side of the screen and the video feed from NYC was on the right side and they replayed the footage from moments before where it showed the second plane hitting the second tower. The headline at the bottom of the page suddenly changed to read “Terrorist Attack”.

We sat there in complete silence for the rest of the class.

We were startled by the bell when it rang to signal us to change classes. I don’t remember the next class I had, but I do remember I had a female teacher who announced to the class that the Board of Education was in a meeting to decide whether or not to dismiss schools early for the day. (I found out a few days later that Charleston was number 5 on Hitler’s hit list because of all the chemical plants and they were afraid of an attack on our city.) While we were waiting on news of an early dismissal, the TV showed the Pentagon.

The school board decided not to release us early so we watched TV for the rest of the day in every class.

Lunch finally came and I went to go eat with my friends – Amy, Amber, and Brittany – but none of us could eat. Instead, we formed a circle. Brittany’s dad was a pastor, so we decided it was fitting that she would be the one to lead us in prayer. (Anyone that knows me well, knows that I am not very much of a religious person. I was raised around a Methodist church and attended many churches of different denominations, but I have formed my own religious beliefs that don’t conform to one specific religion.) This is the one and only time I have prayed in school. Even people that we didn’t know and people that we weren’t particularly friends with came over to stand around us while praying. We prayed for the safety of the people inside the buildings, the people going into the buildings to rescue people that couldn’t rescue themselves, and for families that would be affected.

We found out about the plane in PA that was brought down by people on the plane after lunch. I knew what they had done was heroic, but the extent of it really didn’t register with me.

Several people that I know had relatives, friends, or friends of friends that were victims of the attack. I saw their tears. I saw their hurt. I saw their pain. So when the night of May 1, 2011 came and I checked my Facebook, like I do a million times a day, and saw that Bin Laden had been killed, I was ecstatic. I cannot begin to describe the feeling of elation and utter joy I felt when I saw that headline. The murderer that had taken the lives of thousands and had touched the lives of millions had finally been found and dealt with. Say what you want about his death and how it was handled, but personally, I think it was the best for everyone involved.

But no matter what differences there are between people, please take at least a moment every Patriot Day and remember what so many people lost, what so many people sacrificed, and what so many people gave that day. Not just the people in the planes and the people in the buildings, but also the firefighters and police and good Samaritans of the day. And please also make sure you take the time to thank people in the military. Regardless of if you agreed with the War on Terror or not, they still were fighting for you to keep your freedom and to protect your homeland from another vicious attack like that from happening again.

 

Side note: If you can’t find a simple thank you for the people in uniform for the service they provide, then in my opinion, you don’t deserve the right to live in this country and reap the benefits of living here that they protect.