9/11/01: 5 Years Later

Today the world remembers the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA.

It has been five years since that tragic day but it all still seems so unbelievable. I remember it as if it happened yesterday. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day when I heard the news.

I was a junior in high school and was sitting in my first period class. Most of my class wasn’t in class as most of them were taking the ISTEP (Indiana’s subsidized test). Those that were in class, including myself, were watching a DVD so that the others wouldn’t fall behind on material. Our teacher came back in the classroom, turned off the DVD, and told us that we had to turn on the TV, that something bad was happening in New York City. As the TV came on what we saw was the first tower with the large, gapping hole with smoke and fire billowing out of it. After watching the news coverage for a short time, we then saw the second plane hit the second tower. It looked like something out of a movie. I was in disbelief to what was happening.

I then moved on to my second period class where we continued to watch the news coverage. The towers collapsed during second period. As the first tower start to fall my jaw dropped and the first words that came to my mind were “Oh my God.” The class sat in silence to what we had just witnessed.

The day moved on and we kept watching the coverage. At lunch my friends and I sat and watched as we ate. We sat and talked about what we were thinking and how shocked we were. Then our shock and disbelief turned to sadness then to anger.

In the end 343 firefighters, more than 100 police officers, and more than 3,000 innocent lives were ended because of the evil that perpetrated the attacks.

Please take a moment to remember and reflect on that day and those lives lost. It is very important that none of us ever forget. I know I never will.

God bless all those lost, God bless their family and friends, and God bless America.