As the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks approaches, we can’t help but remember that fateful day, and the lives that were lost. It was a day filled with confusion and fear, first as the World Trade Center was hit by planes, then the attack on the Pentagon, and finally the plane crash in Pennsylvania.
It was also a day filled with the best humanity has to offer, as Americans pulled together to help each other. Firefighters rushed into burning buildings to help those inside, not knowing if they would ever make it out again. Strangers gave each other comfort and support through the rubble and chaos. And for a brief period, our country was united as one.
10 years have passed, and the memories of that day are still fresh to many of the people who were involved, who saw the Twin Towers collapse, who lost someone dear to them. Never to be forgotten, a National September 11th Memorial and Museum is being created to remember and honor all those killed in the attacks, from New York to Pennsylvania to Washington DC. The memorial also remembers the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.
The memorial features two large reflection pools that sit in the footprint of where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools. This will be a calm and beautiful place of remembrance and reflection.
10 years have passed since the September 11 attacks, a day that changed our lives, and how we live, forever. Perhaps we can take the unity and brotherhood we experienced in those days and weeks after the attacks to move forward together.
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The WTC Sept 11 memorial opens to the public today. I did not live in the area at the time of the attacks, and have not been to Ground Zero since. Now that I live here, I can’t wait to go see it and pay my respects to those who were lost.
The anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks was very sad for me and my family. We watched TV all day, reliving the horror of that morning. I want to go to the memorial and remember those people that died and maybe get a sense of peace finally.