It is often said that when an event such as this one occurs, everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing at the time. I am no exception.
On September 11th, 2001, I was into my second year as a student as Centennial Academy, a private high school in Montreal. Unfortunately, I was leaving early because I hadn't been feeling well that day.
As I was heading downstairs from my class to leave the school, I ran into my friend Stefan, who appeared to be in a hurry.
"What's the matter?" I asked him.
"Something crazy just happened," he replied, a bit out of breath.
"What happened?"
"Someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center in New York City."
"What? How? There's no way that's possible."
"I'm not kidding, man. Go check out the news."
As soon as I got home, I threw off my coat and school bag, and ran for the nearest TV set. I switched it on, tuned to CNN, and sure enough, Stefan had been right. CNN was showing footage of two airplanes flying right into the Twin Towers. Then they switched to footage of the city below. People were running all over the place, and the entire area was covered in dust and rubble. Soon afterwards, the two 110-story towers crumbled to the ground.
And just like that, it had happened. I was shocked; I couldn't speak at all. This kind of attack was unthinkable. Why would anyone ever do such a thing? Stefan was right; this certainly was crazy. Devastating, too.
I later heard that many schools in Montreal, including my own, had let their students out early because of the World Trade Center attacks. And then the rumours began. Suddenly, it seemed that planes had crashed almost everywhere. Heck, I even heard a rumour that a plane had crashed in Hampstead, which is right next to Cote-Saint-Luc, where I live. Of course, that wasn't true, and if it had been, we probably would have heard about it.
The same day, another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon Buliding in Arlington County, Virginia. Would the attacks ever stop? I thought. Eventually, they did, but not after claiming the lives of nearly 3,000 people. Many of these individuals were members of New York City's police force and and firefighting squad. On that they, their heroic efforts made them truly deserving of the superlative of "New York's Finest".
Lest we forget this most tragic day. So many lives were lost, and so many families were devastated by this event. Since then, the United States made it their business to crack down on terrorism and significantly increase homeland security. Their efforts have not been in vain. Earlier this year, under the administration of U.S. president Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, the man behind the World Trade Center attacks, was found in Afghanistan, and promptly disposed of. It was a major victory for the U.S., but nothing could replace the thousands of people lost in the attacks ten years prior.
So today, on the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, let us all take some time to reflect and remember those who perished. Even if we did not necessarily know all of these people, it is important that we never forget them. The U.S. may have gotten rid of bin Laden, but the war on terrorism wages on. Nevertheless, the U.S. will continue to tirelessly fight the good fight, for the good of us all.
We must never forget, and we must never surrender.
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