25 Years: Never Forget

It was September 11, 2001. My mom was home attending to me (four) and my brother (three) when the phone rang. It was my aunt. “Where’s Joe?” she asked, referring to my dad. “He’s at work” my mom replied. The radio was off. The television was off. “Is he okay?” my aunt asked. “Why wouldn’t he be?” my mom answered. “Are you living under a rock?” my aunt asked. Luckily my dad (an NYPD officer) was okay though he spent the next few months hunting through debris for bodies, working  overtime and drinking way too much Starbucks. 9/11. Never forget.

Never forget the 2,977 victims including the heroic firemen, policemen and “ordinary” citizens (such as the people flying on United Airlines Flight 93 who took control back from the terrorists, sacrificing their own lives to protect the people the terrorists intended to target). Never forget thousands of people who died later of cancer and respiratory related diseases. Never forget that there is actual evil in this world and it is up to us to protect ourselves. 

9/11 was committed by a terrorist group named al-Qaeda (I fully expect everyone to already know this). Al-Qaeda is a jihadist movement that regarded the United States as “corrupt” and blatantly ignored the irony. Yeah because nothing says corrupt like flying a plane into a building full of innocent people. There were 19 hijackers that took charge of four planes: one plane crashed into each of the Twin Towers, another plane flew into the Pentagon and the fourth plane crashed into a field once the courageous passengers onboard revolted and fought back against the hijackers. 

9/11 left us with heroes, both alive and dead. It left us with sorrow and anger and raw grief. As a country we mourn still for these people who did nothing wrong yet had the entire trajectory of their life changed whether they are the families who lost a loved one or a first responder who developed PTSD. There are some people in this country who don’t grasp the severity of something like this. Now, more than ever, we need to unite as a country. We need to stop hating the soil it’s built on. And if you can’t do that well…..you can just leave.