In Memoriam

As the past slowly dwindles in our memory, has the tragedy of September 11 been forgotten? Everyone knows what happened that fateful day seven years ago, but many are tired of remembering it. Should we be reminded every year, every month, and every day of our lives? Or is it just something we should learn to forget?

Many people remember the day the planes crashed into the Pentagon; sophomore Meredith Carpenter recalls how she found out.

“I was in my seventh grade English class, and a boy came back from his dentist appointment and said that the World Trade Center was bombed,” Carpenter said. “I didn’t even know what that was at the time. I remember every detail of my day, however. I stood behind a door and watched the news because my parents didn’t want me to see it.”

Many others weren’t allowed to watch the television coverage of the events. Sophomore Lauren Van Wicklen, who saved all the newspaper articles from the tragedy that day, remembers panic spreading throughout her school.

“I was in my seventh grade algebra class, teachers weren’t allowed to tell us what happened, they canceled afternoon classes, and the word ‘terrorism’ flew quickly around the school,” Wicklen said.”It generated panic, everyone was crying. My elementary school brother, however, got to watch the bodies fall (from the buildings) at school.”

Bodies did fall. According to the New York Magazine, the number of bodies found “intact:” 289. The number of body parts found: 19,858. In the 111 days left in 2001, after September 11th , Rudy Giuliani attended 200 funerals to honor the victims.
Sophomore Jesse Laudino speaks out about his experiences the day of Sept. 11.

“I was almost devastated because I have a lot of family in New Jersey, and I called my dad, and he could actually see it,” Laudino said. “I was afraid my family was around it or involved; it made me scared.”

Last year, the GCSU College Republicans decorated front campus with one flag for every person that died during the attacks.

Most students think these events should be remembered like this, especially senior Erin Beall.

“It should be remembered every day, taught in schools, students should be shown the clips and videos, not just pushed under the rug,” Beall said.

“Everyone should be reminded of it, I think people get upset over the war but we have to remember, they invaded our country; it was a huge tragedy,” Carpenter said.

A country song was written shortly after Sept. 11 entitled “Have You Forgotten” by Darryl Worley.

“Have you forgotten how it felt that day, to see your homeland under fire, and her people blown away?” Worley wrote. “Have you forgotten when those towers fell? We had neighbors still inside, going through a living hell.”

This song is played on the radio every Sept. 11 by many stations to let everyone remember the day 2,819 people died.

According to the New York Magazine, the towers stood and burned for 56 minutes and 102 minutes, but they fell in just 12 seconds.

Freshman Rebecca Payne agrees the date should be remembered.

“Innocent lives were lost and that brought the nation closer together,” Payne said. “We should never forget that.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 12 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry