I was 13 years old on September 11, 2001, just a little-bitty eighth grader at Jackson Middle School. Just about all of us remember where we were that morning when we heard about the attacks in New York and Washington D.C., but for me that doesn’t exist. I was up early that morning because I had orchestra practice before school, and went about my day pretty much as usual. After school, I went home and watched my afternoon shows on ABC Family. I distinctly remember some sort of crawl going across the bottom of the screen during one of them, but paid no attention to it. I didn’t care about the news then - that was adult stuff.
I really had no idea about what had happened until my parents got home and I saw the special edition of the Chicago Tribune that had been delivered. Over the next couple days I started to understand just what had happened. I also remember specifically that my mom went to donate blood that very day. A couple years later when my school orchestra visited Washington D.C. my sophomore year, we saw the flag that had been hanging on the side of the Pentagon in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I distinctly remember that being a very powerful moment.
In addition to this being the 10th anniversary, this is the first year that we can say that the man credited with the attacks has been caught. Four months ago, a Navy SEAL team raided Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan and shot him. It may have taken ten years, but we finally got the last major player in the attacks. Even if we can’t bring back the people who died that day, I can only hope that his death was able to bring a little comfort to their families, knowing that all the men responsible for this have finally been brought to justice.
In the last couple years 9-11 has come to be a day that pretty reflective for me, especially since I decided to go into law enforcement. I never tire of hearing about the heroics of that day by the first responders and rescue workers, no matter how much it makes me tear up. They ran towards danger when everyone else around them was running away, and put their own lives on the line so that they could save even one more life. While I certainly hope that nothing like that day ever happens again, I think that is part of the reason why I want to be a police officer. I want to be able to say that I’ve made an impact in someone’s life and did something important, protected the people and helped catch the bad guys. I totally understand why firefighters/police officers/everyday people went to those cities afterward to help in any way that they could. If I had been old enough, I probably would have done the same.
A lot has changed in the past ten years; not just here, but all over the world. The happenings of that day have impacted just about everyone in ways both large and small. The long security lines at the airport have become almost routine by now, and a lot of times we find them annoying. But for the people of the current generations, it will be our Pearl Harbor - a day that will live in infamy. Someday, there will be a day - a generation- when September 11th will be just another day, much like December 7th is for many of us. I hope that we never forget the lessons we learned that day or the way we learned to come together as one nation, one people, one world. Always remember. Never forget. 9.11.01.
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