Do you remember where you were or what you were doing on September 11, 2001?
I do. I was in my 8 a.m. history class at Delta State; I was a first-year freshman.
After my second class, I headed back to my dorm around 10:40. When I got to the foyer and looked at the big screen, a recording of the planes hitting the Twin Towers was playing; writing about the attack was going across the screen. It seemed as if the news anchor was kind of yelling. Faces of astonishment and bewilderment filled the room.
Tears just started hitting my cheeks. That was a sad day for Americans. Whether we knew the victims or not, we could not help but feel an overwhelming feeling of compassion and sadness for those who lost loved ones.
Many of us are familiar with the story, and there may be some who are not. On September 11, 2001, four U.S. planes were hijacked by 19 terrorists from Al-Qaeda; two planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center while one hit the Pentagon and the last one crashed in a rural area in Pennsylvania. Billions of dollars of damage were caused, BUT almost 3,000 people (firefighters, law enforcement, husbands/wives, mothers/fathers, etc.) lost their lives that day. 9-11, as the event is referred to, is a day that has been recorded in history books and that will be remembered for years to come.
The buildings may have been rebuilt and new planes may have been constructed, but the emotional and mental stress that came with the loss and devastation of that day cannot be replaced and will not be forgotten.
The lives of countless people and the political scope of the United States were changed forever on that day 22 years ago.
