NEVER FORGET

As I’m sure all of you know, today marks the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks against America. Even though I was only in first grade when it all happened I still have some details of that day engraved in my mind  and they always will be there; to Never Forget.

The morning of September 11, 2001 is always described as a sunny, cloudless, perfect day. However, this wouldn’t last long.  At 8:46 am American Airlines Flight 11 hits the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  At this point in time not too many realized the significance of this event. Many thought it was simply an accident. When American Airlines Flight 175 slammed into the South Tower everyone knew at that point that this was no accident, it was an attack on America. This was followed by American Airlines Flight 77 hitting the western side of the Pentagon and then Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.

However, the planes were just the beginning to a horrific day.  Less than an hour after being hit by Flight 175, the South Tower collapses and a half an hour after that the North Tower comes down. This is where a majority of the nearly 3,000 fatalities occurred.

Within all of the death and destruction of that day the fact that hits me the hardest is that 343 FDNY firefighters died. I think that this hits me the hardest because of my dad. He is a firefighter and every time I hear this statistic I always think of him. I can’t even imagine what the families of those heroes have gone through.  On that day then men who died were the true heroes. They climbed up the stairs into the smoke and fire instead of running away even though they knew their fate.

If you get anything out of this post, just remember to Never Forget. Don’t just honor the firemen but honor the policemen and everyone who tried to help someone else on that day. Also, honor Flight 93 because if they didn’t rise up and fight against their hijacker; who knows how many more people would have died. Another thing to remember is that freedom is never free and we can’t always take it for granted.

9/11/01 NEVER FORGET