As students, most of us were in elementary or middle school on Sept. 11, 2001. We remember that day. Little details may have been lost in the past decade, but we can recall where we were, who were we with and what we thought.
No matter where you were on that day, there was a stark shift. We suddenly had something in common with everyone; our neighbors, people on the street, people we had never even met. It was a time of unity.
Think back to that day, and everything that has changed since then. This is not the same country as it was; this is not even the same world. But we still have a connection to each other because we sat in front of the TV, or knew someone who knew someone affected by the attacks, or looked up in awe at the empty sky.
To watch it happen on the news or see the pictures is entirely different than hearing someone’s first person account of that day.
In this issue there is an interview with Andrew Myers, a former Bradley police officer who was in the Pentagon the day of the attacks. That story is just the beginning. Hearing someone who lived it recall the events of that day is haunting, chilling and absolutely surreal.
The Day of Remembrance, among other memorial events, is a time for all of us to come together as a campus.
We are all busy, we all have things to do, but this Monday at 4 p.m., your homework can wait. Your workout can wait. You midday nap can hold off an hour or two.
That day is a snapshot in time– in the news, in pictures, in memory. If you don’t know someone personally affected by the attacks, it can seem like it happened worlds away, something like a movie.
But listening to a survivor’s retelling of that day brings it alive like nothing else can, and Andrew Myers is kind enough to share something so personal, a day where he lost colleagues, coworkers and friends.This is an honor we should all take advantage of.
No matter where you were on Sept. 11, we can unite as a campus a decade later to reflect on the lives lost that day, and Myers’ incredible account at the scene of the attack.
It’s guaranteed that hour will stick with you like your own memories of that day.
