Before September 11, 2001, America was in a blissful ignorance, aware that many other countries despised us for our ignorance (and arrogance), but indifferent to it nonetheless. There was terrorism going on around the globe, but it didn't really have an impact on the average American. Suddenly, the spear of violence and bloodshed was thrust into the heart of America. For a week straight, all the basic TV channels showed nothing but the rubble, and countless of replays of the crashes and the subsequent collapse of the Towers. It was all we could think about. We didn't know how we were going to move on from this tragedy. But we somehow managed to move on.
Aside for the previously mundane rendition of Star-Spangled Banner at sporting events, I never really considered this country to be that patriotic. Suddenly, when the ballad was sung at baseball games, all that you saw were countless faces drenched in tears by the end of the song. On porches and cars all you saw was red, white, and blue. The colors were everywhere you went, as if they served as a constant tribute to those who lost their lives. The country, and it seemed that humanity, had been unified; all it took was a horrendous act of destruction.
The defining moment of my parents' generation that everyone henceforth asked, "Where were you when x happened" was Kennedy's assassination. My generation's moment is 9/11. I remember where I was when 9/11 happened. I was in my seventh grade classroom wondering like the rest of the class where the teacher was. Then he walked in slowly and told us all the grim news. My immediate reaction was: "What kind of joke was he trying to pull?" He wasn't joking, as my 12 year-old-brain realized. When I eventually saw the wreckage on TV, I shamefully admit that thought of how nonchalantly I would take the news when I heard of suicide attacks in Israel. I realized that terrorism had hit this country, and whatever impenetrable shield we thought we had to stop these things from happening, was gone forever. One memory from the whole scene that juts out from my mind is how during a (what was supposed to be a worldwide) moment of silence for all the brave souls who perished in the tragedy, some countries were celebrating with singing and dancing. They were celebrating because thousands of people were dead. The audacity to do something like that is unfathomable. I can't believe how cruel and heartless those people were. Well for those of us that have hearts and still feel the loss of human life even after 8 years, let us remember those who died on that day so the rest of us could live.
