By: William Nolan
“Never forget.” These words have helped define one of the darkest days in American history, September 11, 2001.
2016 marked the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and provided an opportunity for Western students to reflect on what this day meant for them.
Even as college students, many of us were too young at the time to fully get a grasp on the situation that was unfolding before our eyes. Despite our age, it was easy to tell that whatever was happening was big.
“I was seven on 9/11,” junior Matt West said. “I was homeschooled, so I was out getting a haircut at Eckel’s Barber Shop. They had a tiny box TV in the corner of the shop, and it was on the news when it happened. I remember very vividly the second plane coming in. I didn’t quite know what it meant, but I remember I was scared because all of the adults were scared.”
As we look back this year in memoriam of what happened 15 years ago, many of us were probably in school during the events that took place that day. So while many of us remember the hysterics of the day, it took time for the magnitude of the attack to set in.
Gaby Lammoglia, a junior at Western, has traveled to Ground Zero to witness the devastating aftermath.
“I was in class and I don’t remember much [about the attacks]; I don’t think they told us what exactly was going on,” Lammoglia said. “I don’t think it actually set in until I visited Ground Zero a month or two after. It was still a big pile of rubble, and windows in the building were shattered. There was a man there who took photos while everything was happening, and images like that can’t leave you.”
Whether you were old enough to remember the events that happened that day or if you were too young to grasp the situation, the attacks changed American lives. This attack would spur on many political actions and security reforms in our nation. For many students like West, the only reality we know is post-9/11.
“For me personally, I don’t really know how it has affected my life, because I don’t remember very clearly what life was like before 9/11,” West said.
This year in commemoration the 15th anniversary of 9/11, Missouri Western sponsored a special showing of “Cronkite” in the Walter Cronkite Memorial in Spratt Hall. “Cronkite” portrays Walter Cronkite’s reaction to the events of 9/11 in a live reenactment.
“[The showing of “Cronkite”] seemed an appropriate way to commemorate this tragedy,” Western President Robert Vartabedian said. “To have the widely known ‘most trusted man in America’ and our beloved St. Joseph native son, Walter Cronkite, weighing in on this horrific event seemed fitting.”
It’s important to remember that, though we were hit hard on that day, we didn’t fall.
Sept. 11, 2001, is a day that will live in infamy for the rest of American history. But amidst the chaos of that day, we found heroes. We as American citizens didn’t see dividing lines; we only saw brothers and sisters in trouble. We came together to help the people and families that were directly affected by this attack and to make sure it would never happen again.
