9/11

Just like every other person in America, I will never forget 9/11. As young as I was, I still have vivid memories of the news reports, that day at school, and my parent’s reactions to the greatest tragedy that ever happened to America. The video that we watched in class was extremely mind-boggling. There were points in the film that sent shivers down my spine, and brought back memories of that day. The reason why I really enjoyed that film was because its detail was astonishing. I have seen lots of footage of 9/11 and seeing this documented, footage inside the building was crazy. The stress and panic everybody was under was crazy and to see it in a firefighters prospective was very neat.  Having seen this film from what the fire fighters had to go through really shows how our country is made of many heroes. These people were willing to put their lives on the line to save other peoples’ lives. The amount of work these firefighters did on that day is unheard of. What really caught my attention was when all of the firefighters came back to the station and were talking about what they had gone through. The captain came and told everybody that they need volunteers to go help rescue anybody that could have been trapped after the towers fell. Every firefighter wanted to go back to work and save as many people as possible. These men could have gone home to their families but they felt their job was not over yet. This shows the dedication if these men and the sacrifices they made to this country.

The article I chose to read about is called, “In Manhattan, Children Still Battle 9/11- Related Illnesses.” This article caught my eye because it proves that 9/11 doesn’t just affect us mentally but physically as well. I had no idea that people still suffer from problems from the amount of dust that day around the World Trade Center. This article talks about a Mariama James’ three kids who suffered illness from the attacks. Two years after the attack, her daughter suffered from chronic sinus infections caused by the access amount of dust on 9/11. Shortly after that all three of James’ children had a host of health conditions including asthma, chronic bronchitis, and acid reflux. It got to be very bad and all three kids were missing a lot of school and at one point, each kid was on at least seven different medications.  A quote from the article states, “ A study based on the Dept of Health and Mental Hygeine's WTC Health Registry cites that 25,000 children were either living or attending school in Lower Manhattan the day of the attacks, and projects that tens of thousands more "were in the path of the plume of building debris and smoke, close enough to inhale particulates and toxic substances.” This many kids possibly having respiratory problems is insane. This article was quite shocking to me because I never even knew about these effects on children. I had no idea that kids were suffering from respiratory problems due to the attacks. After reading this article, I realized that 9/11 is still with us today both physically and mentally. 

If somebody asked me what I took away from 9/11, I would respond by saying, “ live your life to the fullest day every day and don’t take anything for granted.” Over 3,000 people lost their lives due to the terrorist attacks. These people had no idea that they were going to die that day. They figured it was just another day at work, or another day dealing with this or that. Imagine what these people would of done if they knew they were going to die a month earlier. I’m pretty sure they would have tried to enjoy every second they had remaining on this earth. They would have spent as much time with their loved ones as possible. The point I am trying to make is that life can be taken from you at any point unexpectedly. That is just the way it is. By living life to the fullest, you wont have any regrets. Live and enjoy life to the best of your ability because one day it will be over.

This is just something that I have realized during my time in high school. Looking back on 9/11 today, I really connected this idea. Another thing I picked up on from 9/11 is the amount of patriotism our country showed during this time of crises. It didn’t matter what color your skin was, what religion you practiced, or what your beliefs were. We as a country came together as one and that was a key element to getting through this horrible tragedy. We all supported one another and provide hope for the country.