11/09/2026
I was in high school. The school year had just started a few weeks ago. We had heard people saying that a plane had flown into one of the Twin Towers in NYC. I imagined a small prop plane that broke a window or two. Then when I got to study hall and the teacher rolled in a TV on a cart (no iphones or internet videos back then). I remember seeing the footage and feeling the gut punch when the second plane hit. Asking how this could have happened. Wondering how many innocent people would die.
So much changed that day. Americans lost our sense of security. It was a wake-up call and a loss of innocence. My parents told me it would be a day I would remember forever, and I have.
The months and years that followed these terrorist attacks would bring out some of the worst in Americans (the Patriot Act, the invasion of Iran, islamophobia) but in the minutes, hours and days afterwards, it brought out the best in Americans.
There were so many people that helped others. Many, like first responders, those that went back into the towers or the passengers of the fourth hijacked flight who attacked the hijackers and prevented more deaths, lost their lives. They lost their lives helping others, regardless of race, gender, religion or nationality.
The stories of small acts or courage and service abound, and not just in the US. Like the town of Gander In rural Newfoundland (Canada) population 10,000, that gave up everything they had to help 7,000 stranded passangers after their flights were rerouted to Gander.
The world came together in the name of humanity.
We were united as a country and it’s probably the only time that I can remember that we truly were.
Thank you to all the helpers and may all the victims rest in peace.🇺🇸
