Although I, individually, was sprouting at a blissful age of two on September 11th, 2001, the influence of its adversity has diffused throughout my existence, as well as that of those amongst me.
Annual remembrance of the 6,000 wounded and 2,996 killed universes throughout a classroom was customary, ornamented with a fleeting juncture of silence. Firehouses displayed turnout gear where the flag pole and asphalt kissed. Police officers accommodate local memorializations, snare drums harmonizing to a patriotic track.
Notably, I recollect a speech given in an auditorium where a survivor recounted his experience within Ground Zero. If there was anything that I took away from that afternoon, it was that while he communicated his poignant tale, every murmur ceased. If a pin had been dropped, it would have been heard.
However, this present day commemorates the fifteenth anniversary of the Al Qaeda attack, stimulating transcontinental conversation.
President Barack Obama addressed the nation at approximately nine o’clock this morning, encouraging American citizens to espouse the “melting pot” diversity of the United States at its comprehensiveness.
ABC News chronicled, “‘We know that our diversity, our patchwork heritage is not a weakness, it is still and always will be one of our greatest strengths,’ Obama said. ‘This is the America that was attacked that September morning. This is the America that we must remain true to.'”
Furthermore, the American flag from the emblematic photograph of three firefighters—Billy Eisengrein, George Johnson, and Dan McWilliams—ascending the fabric amongst the World Trade Center’s carnage at Ground Zero on September 11th has made its homecoming.
The New York Times reported that it was redeemed in Washington State by historians from The History Channel.
“In the beginning it was just a flag that was returned,” said Kim Gilmore, a senior historian at the History Channel. ‘There was a lot of work to determine if it was the ground zero flag.”
As it triumphantly populates the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in all its venerable resilience, Joseph C. Daniels, the chief executive and president of the aforementioned museum, reminisced, “To not have that flag as a part of the museum, it always felt like there was something missing. It was a symbol of not only hope, but of strength. We needed both at the time.”
As we reside within the contentment of our households that the bona fide heroes of Ground Zero and those that ensued have furnished us with, remember to acknowledge them and their everlastingly mourning beloveds with gratitude.
In President Barack Obama’s eloquent summarization, “In your grief and grace, you have reminded us that, together, there’s nothing we Americans cannot overcome.”
