Our Voice

On September 11, 2001, two hijacked airplanes struck the World Trade Center.  Another struck the Pentagon.      A fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.  Within five hours, 2,973 people were dead.
    All of these men and women deserve to have their stories told.  Space, however, does not permit that in a college newspaper.  This column of remembrance barely has room for four hundred words.  That’s roughly one word for every seven or eight people. 
    If you count every word on the entire page, it is about one word per person.
    Three thousand Americans. 
    One word each.
    Five years ago, America was brought to a halt, and we watched as our nation was attacked.  We watched our families, friends and neighbors perish in acts of violence.  We felt remorse for people we had never met, and for their families, who we had also never met. 
    We attempted to identify, as best we could, with their grief and pain.
    We go about our business on September 11, but in the backs of our minds, we all remember what this day cost us.
    Five years ago, the media converged on New York City and Washington D.C.  We talked about who was to blame, and who had been lost.  We spoke to the families of the dead, and the families of the fortunate survivors. 
    Through the media, broadcast, online and print, America and the world saw this tragedy unfold.
    Through the media, America rallied to ensure that such things would never happen again.
    Five years later, with the initial shock worn off, and the mindset of the nation substantially different, what can the media do?
    There is little new to report.  All that can be done is remind America what has happened, and remember those who were lost.
    The media could encourage Americans to remember their fallen comrades.  We can encourage you to fly the Stars and Stripes, to sing a patriotic hymn or to offer a prayer up to the deceased.
    We can ask you to remember.  Where were you on September 11, 2001?  What did you feel?  Who were you with?
    We all remember well where we were.
    We were in classes.  Some in English, some in a computer course.  One of us was taking sex ed. 
    We were reading books, and we were taking tests.    Until 8:45 a.m. that morning, it was a normal day.
    Five years ago, most of the current members of The Colonnade staff had never met each other.  Five years ago, we would not have known the others existed.  On September 11, 2001, we were all in different places, doing different things. 
    Five years later, we spend every Wednesday night together, combining our efforts and talents to put together the campus newspaper.  We’ve formed our own little family.
    We became aware of each other in 2006.  We have placed names to faces and etched each other into our memories. 
    Five years ago, we became aware of 2,973 people, that we had not known existed. 
    And on September 11, five years later, we still remember them.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 8 2006. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry