Story by Chloe Baker and Grace Kirtley
17 years ago, 19 hijackers, four planes. 2,977 lives lost, 2,977 families’ lives changed. In less than two hours, America had witnessed one of the most heartbreaking attacks on our nation. The memory of this event will forever be burned into America’s history.
On Sept. 11, 2001, The United States of America faced one of the most monumentally tragic days in our nation’s history. The attack was orchestrated by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
A total of four planes were hijacked; one hit the North Tower of New York’s World Trade Center, another hit the South Tower, one hit the Pentagon and the final plane crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
On the bright and sunny Tuesday, a total of 2,977 people were killed. 403 of the 2,977 that died were first responders.
On that day following the attack, all planes were grounded and the only air crafts permitted to fly were military air crafts. From then on, the airplane industry would never be the same, airport security oversight has been added and practices have been reformed in order to increase safety. Security costs today are $7.4 billion annually, according to Business Insider.
In 2001, The War on Terror began, which still continues today. Lafayette staff member and coach, John Pope, fought for five months in Afghanistan. While fighting for America’s safety in the War on Terrorism, he lost his leg.
While only Class of 2019 and 2020 were alive during 9/11, students all over Lafayette have been impacted by the horrific event.
Junior Katie Greenstein’s family was living in Japan at the time on a Navy Base as her father was on a flight to India.
“My dad was the last person to check back in to the navy base. My mom was terrified. It was an incident that my family will probably never forget,” Greenstein said.
Greenstein believes that 9/11 changed the dynamic of her family.
“We are fairly patriotic as a family and we believe in rallying around people who are in traumatic situations and I think that would've been less true if 9/11 hadn’t happened,” Greenstein said.
Katie’s father, Egan Greenstein, has been working for Boeing Defense since retiring from the Navy in 2003.
“I think if 9/11 hadn’t happened, Boeing wouldn’t have boosted on defense. Their high technology and research would not have happened. We would not have as much security and safety in flying now,” Katie said.
Although Katie wasn’t alive on 9/11, she understands the gravity of the situation and hopes that everyone remembers the various tragedies that occurred that day.
“I think [9/11] is something that needs to be remembered and the fact that some of us were alive for it is kind of a big milestone,” Katie said. “We are getting to the point where this is something that is no longer in our societies or generations memory, but instead it's something that's taught in our history class.”
Similar to Greenstein, freshman Claire Hornberger’s father had a close call on Sept. 11, 2001. Her dad worked at the World Trade Center during that time; however, he had a business trip during the week and missed the attack.
“It’s super lucky, it would have been terrible had we lost him and I can’t imagine how terrible it must be for families who [lost] people in the attack,” Hornberger said.
While Hornberger had not been born yet, her whole life would have been different had her dad not gone on that business trip. Because of her family's experience, Hornberger believes that everyone should be educated and aware of the attack against America in 2001.
“I think it is really important that we educate people on about what happened because it could repeat itself if people don’t learn about it,” Hornberger said.
Many families were not as lucky as the Hornbergers were. Thousands of lives were lost and families across America felt the pain of that day.
Reality of terrorism hits home
Column written by Matthew Warren, U.S. History teacher
Sept. 11 is a day that is more than just a footnote in history. It is a day that has reshaped our nation's path and altered the world's landscape. While terrorism was not born on that day, for many it was the moment that they were awoken to a new reality that the world has been struggling to deal with ever since.
For me, I’ll never forget it because 2001 was my first year teaching. I learned about it on my plan hour and struggled to get the dial-up internet to load information. I sat with my classes the rest of the day glued to the rollout box TV.
I’ll never forget coping with that moment as a new social studies teacher with my students. It was a somber day. The country seemed to just go into a standstill as we collectively dealt with the shock.
I also will never forget the way the country really came together in the days, weeks and months after that terrible moment. It was really special to see people from all different opinions and backgrounds come together as one following the 9/11 attack. Petty differences were overlooked as we all realized we were Americans first and foremost. You couldn’t drive down a street without seeing American flags flying as far as the eye could see. It was really inspiring.
More recently, freshman Abdurahman Osman was bullied at a young age. As a Muslim, he was accused for the attacks on 9/11.
“They said I was Osama Bin Laden and they also said I had bombed [The World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9/11],” Osman said. “One of the people were directly affected by 9/11, his dad had died. He had told me it was my fault and that I should go back to my country even though I was born here. I am a citizen.”
Osman’s teachers were not able to stop the bullying and he eventually transferred to the Rockwood School District. Since then, his school experience has improved.
The bullying occurred on the basis of Osman’s religion, a freedom every American citizen is granted. It is not uncommon for Muslims to be harassed because of their religion.
“Islam is a religion of peace, it directly means peace. If you kill, you are not a Muslim, so you cannot consider Muslims as terrorists… Of course there are some bad eggs, but it's not something [that should be] generalized,” Osman said.
As he grew up, Osman had to deal with the consequences of 9/11 socially. He has been stereotyped because of his religion, something many Muslims have faced. Luckily, things have gotten better over time, but Islam is still falsely associated with terrorism.
On Oct. 12, 2001, the Lafayette Image staff published their first and only Special Edition, “America Under Attack.” The publication was created in response to the attacks and featured stories of students grieving in the aftermath of the event.
The War on Terrorism has been the longest foreign war in American history. Since that morning, political stances on sending our troops has evolved, yet we are still fighting over seas.
Sept. 11, 2001 is a day that our nation will never forget. Travel, immigration, national security and the daily lives of countless Americans are still impacted by that morning. No matter how young one may be, 9/11 hits much closer to home than America would care to admit.