Today marks the 3 year anniversary of the attacks of September 11th 2001. Some describe it as a modern day Pearl Harbor, some say it was much worse. For those of you who don’t know by now, I’m a lifelong New Yorker. I live on Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. On that day, I heard a news reporter screaming on the radio “oh my god, the tower collapsed!” and immediately ran out to a nearby pier. I lost a cousin that day. Not a close family member or one I even recalled meeting, but still...family is family.
What I saw was incomprehensible. One tower seemingly bleeding think black smoke from the top. One tower. One tower standing defiant amongst a cloud of debris that seemed to cover all of Manhattan. One tower. And then it was gone. As I watched the second tower collapse, I realized that this cocoon of safety was ripped from all of us, and that the so called “age of innocence” was gone.
In the first few days following the attacks, something else occurred. A sense of unity and resilience the likes of which many had probably never seen. I know I never had. Rescue crews from as far away as Moscow came to assist in any way they could. Small towns from all across the country donated money, food, supplies, blood and just general support.
On a stretch the West Side Highway near what is now known as “Ground Zero”, New Yorkers camped out and held up signs cheering the weary rescuers as they walked from what undoubtedly must have been the toughest job anyone could do. This stretch of highway was nicknamed “Point thank you at Heroes Highway”. I realize now, sadly, people are not only forgetting this sense of unity, but forgetting the day itself. Here in New York City, we lost 2,749 people that day. 2,749. In less then three hours.
At the Pentagon, in Washington D.C., 184 people. In Shanksville, PA., Flight 93 lost all 40 on board. Do people even remember Flight 93 anymore? Does anyone remember how the passengers fought back and prevented further loss of life even though it cost them their own? Why does one forget something like this? I can assure the families of the victims have not. As I walk around lower Manhattan, I see a great rebuilding on the site of the World Trade Center. Nearby, World Trade Building Number 7 is being rebuilt at a pace that rivals that of the Empire State Buildings. And, even though it is not the best choice, the “Freedom Tower” is on its way up as well.
Rebuilding is indeed a good thing, but we cannot go forward without forgetting what got us to where we are. It may difficult for some to grasp the enormity of the situation. Not everyone was there to see the jumpers. Can you imagine how bad it must have been up there to make a choice like that? Not everyone smelled it. You didn’t have to say what it was, you knew to well. Miles away you could smell it. Not everyone was kept awake at night by the constant fighter jet patrols. Not everyone.
By now, many, if not all of you know that next year I will be entering the New York City Fire academy, and will one day be a New York City firefighter. By now, many of you remember how the press waxed poetic for months, calling the firefighters and police officers heroes and lavishing them with praise. But now, as if it was a passing fad, that has been all but forgotten. Why? How is it that a pro athlete who makes 300 million dollars a year for playing a game earns more praise then someone who will run into a burning building to save you? How is it that more people would rather thank a singer then a stranger who would jump in front of a bullet for you? Has society really gotten that bad?
Maybe you didn’t see in the days after, people digging on their hands and knees…using buckets. Does anyone even care to thank the countless Ironworkers who did some of the most dangerous work not because they had to, because they wanted to. Men and women hanging by a rope of a melted steel beam above a bottomless pit in order to make sure that some family had something to bury. In some cases, families were given nothing but a small fragment of bone, and worse still, some families had nothing at all. People forget this and it bothers me. It does.
People don’t remember how this great city, New York City has recovered from this…unbelievable horror. You hear it said sometimes that New York City is the greatest city on the face of the Earth, and let me tell you…it is. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, love him or hate him, said it best; “New York is still here. We’ve suffered terrible losses and we will grieve for them, but we will be here, tomorrow and forever.“ It is that kind of spirit that makes me prouder then ever to be a New Yorker.
We never will fully recover from September 11th. Frankly, I don’t believe we should. If you can do nothing else, remember Everyone needs to remember. Remember the bad. Remember the good. That is what you can do to honor those that we loved and lost. You can be the ones that remember.
When I started writing this, I wasn’t really sure where I was gonna go with it, and to be honest, I’m not sure I went anywhere with it. I don’t know who, if anyone will read, but if you do, that is all I ask of you, Just don‘t forget.