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Ten years. A decade now separates the United States from acts of terror that, to this day, continue to haunt many of its citizens.
September 11, 2001 is a date many will remember, but wish they could forget. On that day, the world almost felt like it ended. Like the events unfolding were the beginning of something so dark and sinister it was unimaginable.
It began with four planes, unknowingly carrying 19 hijackers, and ended in the death of 2,983 people.
The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City were by far the most vicious, the most crucial to the nefarious terrorist operation.
Many watched in silence, unable to speak. Others cried, screaming. Those gathered around ground zero after the first plane struck the North Tower were transfixed.
There it was, in plain sight, a tremendous nightmare unfolding before them. But unlike the many nightmares before, this one was inescapable.
That day, for a few hours, as they had before, the twin towers stood as imposing monuments of American ingenuity, of the glory of commerce and its capitalism.
Then they fell. They fell as sepultures, burying nearly 3,000 innocent souls inside its twisted metal and burned walls.
Not since the days of the Civil War had American soil unwillingly hosted so much bloodshed.
Not all died in the immediate realm of horror besieged on lower Manhattan that day. Some deaths took months, even years to abide. Like Jerry Borg, who died in December 2010 after complications caused by a lung condition from inhaling dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center.
The terrorists probably never knew the people inside and never cared for the lives they were about to end or the thousands more they were about to change.
Yet this day is not about the acts of terror. On this day, we remember those lost.
We remember the fallen today as innocent souls who perished and were mourned by a prideful government and its somber people. Those lost will be honored with a growing tower that when complete will one day rise 1,776 feet from Ground Zero.
The day will continue to transpire, for some as simply another day, but for others, as a scorching lament brought forth by a heartrending memory of lives lost.
On this day, we remember. We remember to honor those who fell with the buildings, those who passed away in the crash in Pennsylvania and those who died working in the halls of the Pentagon.
We remember, because that is all men and women can do when words escape them. We remember because it is a natural, human instinct for coping with tragedy.
Today we aspire for glimmers of closure. Knowing those who died will never be forgotten. We also recognize our own humanity. We recognize its incalculable value, its dignified presence and its mighty will for triumphant visions of hope.
These visions will continue to emerge, every day perhaps, with greater frequency than a day where tragedy grips the heart and sorrow strikes the soul.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Esteban Hernandez at Esteban.hernandez@colorado.edu.
