When the Twin Towers were attacked, I was just 6 years old. Interesting enough, I had just moved from Guyana to the U.S. (living specifically in Queens, NY). The attack was during my first few days of school in a whole new country and I honestly didn't know much. It's one thing not knowing much about where you're living, it's a whole other situation not knowing how to react to a disaster in a whole new place. To be honest, I don't remember a lot of what happened that day. However, what I do remember is being rushed to the cafeteria in school and being picked up from school early. On television, the news was on all day. One thing I vividly remember is watching someone jump off a building on television. It was pretty traumatic and in that moment, I understood the gravity of what had happened, but I didn't understand the emotions of what everyone was feeling around me. No one has ever shared with me their memories of 9/11. However, over the years I have become more educated and aware of the emotions associated with this day. Watching memoirs, movies, and interviews has helped me reached this understanding.
I often believe that after 9/11, Americans have become united through the emotional aspect of the attack and its aftermath. For example, a 34 year old mother expresses her pain of the war after the attack stating that, "Our five year old asks why daddy has to fight the bad guys." I can't imagine losing my father at that age. Coinscedently, my cousin did join the army and was fighting in the war. Thankfully, he is well and no longer serving. However, the war has taken an emotional toll on him. Soldiers are brave people and have to witness and go through things that no one should have to. Coming back from these circumstances to live a normal life again can be a difficult transition. I almost feel that the more people we send off to war, the more we are wrecking their lives. As detrimental as terrorism is, I still think that sending our citizens away to fight in these harsh conditions is just causing more pain for our nation and is making it more difficult to heal the pains of 9/11.
