By: Monthakan Tidi
“Time is passing. Yet for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.” – President W. Bush
On Sept. 11, 2001, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks occurred from an Islamic terrorist group, al-Qaeda. The attacks killed 2,977 people and injured over 6,000 others. Additional people have died from 9/11-related cancer and respiratory diseases in the months and years following the attacks. Since this day, news of this terror-thriving event has crossed all over the U.S.
Since that day, stories from survivors and people with first hand experience of the tragedy have come out. Former CNN anchor, Aaron Brown told CNNMoney’s, Brian Stelter what it was like to report on September 11, 2001. He stated, “It was more on the pervasive sense, knowing that more sites would be attacked like the two towers were.” The way he spoke to the news reporter made it seem like he was reliving that day’s ordeal even years later.
Today, our youth are not as aware of this event as people who are older. Although they may not speak about the event with experience, they still feel truly sorry for those who experienced loss. The event was one of the most deadliest terrorist attacks America had ever faced. As much as the event bent us and left a huge scar on our chests, we still have the courage and determination to move on. This dreadful event was engraved into the depths of American History, and we mourn for and respect the ones that have died serving us to this day. However, America was not built off a cliff of fear, America was built off a peak of determination and pride, and the will of moving forward. The one who falls and gets up is much stronger than the ones that never fell.