Spring Break
9/11 Heroes Cannot Be Forgotten
Aaron Igdalsky
Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: Commentary
I remember sitting in my 9th grade science class, ready to take an exam, when someone near me said, "I wonder if it has something to do with the Israel parade in New York this weekend." I looked at him perplexed, wondering what exactly he was talking about. He said, "You didn't hear? A plane hit the World Trade Center. It's on fire." The principal had apparently made an announcement while I was in jazz band, but we couldn't hear him over the music. I felt my heart sink, my stomach went into knots. For the rest of school, we watched the worst day of my life unfold on television. I couldn't understand who would do such a thing, or why. The victims of that fateful day were someone's kids, someone's parents, someone's friends, and they had harmed no one. I was only 13, but I grew up real fast that day.
Now, six years after Sept. 11, Americans, especially younger ones, are beginning to forget what happened that Tuesday morning. The azure sky was contaminated with a filthy snow of vaporized concrete and bones. The pure morning air was infected with the smell of burnt corpses. We all lost our innocence that day somehow; none of us had ever seen anything like that before and I pray we never will see anything of the sort again. But for some reason, many Americans have forgotten how badly we were hurt. I think about Sept. 11 every day; how can I not? How can I not remember and honor the memories of my fellow human beings who died senselessly, in the name of some perverted group of psychopaths who claim to be doing the work of Allah, when in reality the overwhelming majority of Muslims have condemned Sept. 11 as a disgrace. It still infuriates me, six years later. It was such a senseless act of violence; no matter what gripe bin Laden claims to have had with President Bush or the American government, the 3,000 people who were executed in a matter of a few hours on Sept. 11 had never done anything to deserve such a gruesome death. Today, six years since those attacks, I hear less and less discussion of what happened. I feel like my fellow Americans have forgotten about the abhorrent carnage that thousands suffered. Does it not bother anyone else? Has everyone else forgotten?
Now, six years after Sept. 11, Americans, especially younger ones, are beginning to forget what happened that Tuesday morning. The azure sky was contaminated with a filthy snow of vaporized concrete and bones. The pure morning air was infected with the smell of burnt corpses. We all lost our innocence that day somehow; none of us had ever seen anything like that before and I pray we never will see anything of the sort again. But for some reason, many Americans have forgotten how badly we were hurt. I think about Sept. 11 every day; how can I not? How can I not remember and honor the memories of my fellow human beings who died senselessly, in the name of some perverted group of psychopaths who claim to be doing the work of Allah, when in reality the overwhelming majority of Muslims have condemned Sept. 11 as a disgrace. It still infuriates me, six years later. It was such a senseless act of violence; no matter what gripe bin Laden claims to have had with President Bush or the American government, the 3,000 people who were executed in a matter of a few hours on Sept. 11 had never done anything to deserve such a gruesome death. Today, six years since those attacks, I hear less and less discussion of what happened. I feel like my fellow Americans have forgotten about the abhorrent carnage that thousands suffered. Does it not bother anyone else? Has everyone else forgotten?
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thank you
posted 9/11/07 @ 11:15 AM EST
it really is uplifting to see two articles in the dc regarding 9/11. 6 years ago my life changed dramatically when i saw the smoke pouring out of the city. (Continued…)
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