Sept. 11, 2001, is a date most will never forget.
We remember the sight of the first tower falling, followed shortly thereafter by the second. We remember people crossing the Brooklyn Bridge by the hundreds. We remember firefighters, police officers and port authority officers showing a great amount of bravery as they went upstairs into the World Trade Center building while civilians ran downstairs. We remember seeing faces covered with dust and tears.
One thing is almost guaranteed — those images are ingrained into our minds, never to leave.
Saturday marked the ninth anniversary of those terrorist attacks on our country. Thousands of innocent lives were lost that day, and millions more were forever changed. But how did your peers react to the attacks that day, and in the days after? It’s hard to imagine that most of the students at Lipscomb have lived half of their lives in a post 9/11 world.
Whether we were in class, at home or in the car, we all have a story to tell about that day. They are all unique in their own right. These students were asked what they remembered about where they were and how they found out about the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
These are their responses.
Raleigh McCool, a senior English major from Nashville — “I was in ninth grade at my high school and I remember walking out into the hallway, and there was a girl beside me and she said, ‘There was a bomb in an airplane and it had blown up in a building.’ I had no idea what she was talking about. So, I went to my next class which was English, and we watched Channel 1. It was all over the news, man. I am pretty positive that my English teacher made us turn it off and take a quiz. However, throughout the rest of the day I think we watched it on TV. I remember feeling . . . just kind of getting swept up into all the patriotism of it all. I remember taking small flags and sticking them out in our yard. It’s so hard to believe that it was nine years ago.”
Photo by Sister72
David Hall, a junior Bible major from Nashville — “I was in sixth grade. I was completely oblivious to everything going on. I actually showed up late that day. When I first heard that the Twin Towers had been hit, my first thought was, ‘What are the Twin Towers?’ So, I had no idea what was going on. We went home early that day. My parents were really worried because my aunt lives close to the capital. It didn’t really impact me that much immediately because I didn’t have any family in the military or know anyone that was in New York City. It was just really sad. I think it just made everyone feel more vulnerable; almost like it broke trust. That is the word that I use to describe it. It just made us vulnerable.”
Hannah Lavoie, a freshman social work major from Wallingford, Conn. — “I was in fourth grade, and one of things I remember was that everything was getting cancelled, and no one was telling us what was going on. I asked my teacher, and she told me to ask my mom when I got home. I got home and my mom was crying, and the news was on. She told us what happened. It was so weird. I didn’t understand anything. I was also really stressed out because we lived so close to NYC and people knew others that lived there. It was just really scary because we only lived a few hours away.”
Matthew Raich, a senior English major from Memphis — “I was still home-schooled at the time. It was 10 days before my bar mitzvah. So, while everything was going on I was wondering what would have happened if we had my bar mitzvah 10 days later. I would have had family flying in from LaGuardia, for sure, and maybe Newark…places where terrorists flew out of or places where attacks were foiled. My mom woke me up that morning and told me that a plane had hit a building in New York. There was no real fear in her voice. It was almost like she was telling me because she thought that I would be interested. It was not every day that a plane hit a skyscraper, so there is no way that she knew that it was a terrorist attack. At that point, I don’t think anyone really knew what was going on. Even the voices of the journalists on TV had an upbeat tone. It was some sense that it was odd, but there was no franticness in their voices. Then I remember seeing the second tower get hit. After that, I remember seeing the tower fall . . . the first tower. I had no idea how many people were in it, but I knew that it was a big deal — even at 13 years old. I remember prayer gatherings at my congregation that afternoon and that night. The teacher at my class though, I felt knew how this event would impact our lives. And I am in the belief that 9/11 has had a tremendous impact on kids who were around during it.”
Claire Sellers, a sophomore communication major from Columbia — “I was in fifth grade. We were sitting in classroom, and everyone was really quiet. We couldn’t figure out what was going on at all. We were informed to turn Channel 1 on. After that we saw all kinds of fire, smoke and all sorts of rubble. We were quiet for the rest of day. The school was actually locked down until the end of the day. We were in shock, a lot of silence. A lot of people were crying because there were a lot of military families around. The National Guard came in later that week and showed us a movie. People from the school board came and talked to us about what had happened. Everyone was just in a permanent state of shock.”
Garrett Jones, a freshman civil engineering major from Olive Branch, Miss. — “I was in fourth grade. We were sitting in class and the principal came over the intercom and told us something terrible had happened. He told us to turn our TVs to channel 3. We turned it on and the reporter was talking about 9/11, and showed the video of the attacks. We didn’t know how it happened or why, but they said they would figure it out as soon as possible. Because we were such small kids, I didn’t notice that much of a difference in my friends behavior. The teachers, though, they seemed sadder and weren’t as outgoing as they usually would be. They didn’t really talk a lot. It was mainly the older people that were affected by it immediately.”
While the attack may have tested America’s will, it did not crush the hope in the hearts of Americans. It may have silenced us personally, but as a whole our voices were loud as ever. It may have left us speechless, but it inspired songs, videos, poems and paintings. It may have weakened us momentarily, but the country has never stood as tall as it did in the days following Sept. 11.
President’s Bush’s address to the nation that evening will be one remembered throughout the history of this nation.
“A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil — the very worst of human nature — and we responded with the best of America. With the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.”
Later in the speech, President Bush quoted a Bible verse that can be used to deal not only with the tragic times of 9/11, but also with struggles still going on today.
Psalm 23: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me.”
“None of us will ever forget this day,” Bush said, “yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.”