Otero Junior College Chinook

The Tragedy With Conspiracy

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I woke at 7:15, for 7th grade classes, like any other normal day. However, as I was throwing on some clothes I glanced at my television and witnessed a horrible sight. Our nation was under attack. Every news station in the world was reporting that a commercial jetliner flew directly into one of the World Trade Center towers. Now I was young and had never personally heard of the World Trade Center before, so I did not fully understand the colossal damage that had been done. As I rode the bus to school alongside my friends, we discussed the current events. Learning more information as the trip wore on, I discovered that the Pentagon was also bombarded by an airplane. Nobody had an exact knowledge of the tragedy until we arrived at school. My first period class was language arts. Fortunately, my teacher was a very intelligent woman, able to control the situation through quick responses to students’ questions regarding the newscasts playing on every TV in school. I learned how big the towers were, that two planes did attack both towers, that our military headquarters at the Pentagon were targeted, and I watched firsthand as both towers collapsed to the ground.

Before the events of that tragic day, American children grew up learning that the biggest surprise attack on our nation was Pearl Harbor during WWII. After September 11, the syllabus changed. With nearly 3,000 deaths, the terrorist attacks of the modern Pearl Harbor created the deadliest surprise attack in our history. Our nation was caught completely off guard: we got the wind knocked out of us. However, our president wisely stated in his address to the American people, “These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.” We had immediate response to these events and our nation recovered very quickly. New York firefighters and policemen risked their lives to save people in the rubble of the towers. Americans all over rushed to the Red Cross to donate money, food, blood, and anything they could to help the victims. It was amazing how fast a single event could bring out the best in all our people. In the midst of a catastrophe our nation became closer than ever.