Remembering 9/11

On Friday, September 9, 2023, I attended the “Patriot Day and National Day of Remembrance Ceremony and Observance,” at the United States Army Garrison at Fort Hamilton, to commemorate the lives of the nearly 3,000 people who fell victim to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Even though this coordinated attack that caused the collapse of the Twin Towers in Manhattan, damage to the Pentagon in Washington, and a plane crash in a field near Shanksville, PA occurred twenty-two (22) years ago today, most of us still remember where we were when we received the devastating news. This attack represented the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil since Pearl Harbor.

Loved ones were lost, friends and families were devastated and while time has elapsed, the psychic toll this horrific attack created continues to reverberate, particularly on the anniversary of the attack. One of our Medgar Evers College graduates, 21-year-old Nichola Thorpe who was doing an internship in one of the Twin Towers, lost her life that day. We continue to grieve and honor all of those who perished and celebrate their lives and contributions, while also appreciating the heroism and bravery exhibited on that sorrowful day.

While the attacked sites in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the site of the crashed plane in Shanksville represented evil intending to eradicate hope and peace, the response was one of unity and an indomitable sense of love and caring.

Despite the divisiveness that seems to currently dominate the news, we should come together, on this day, as a means of paying homage to those we’ve lost. We should unify in love, and continue to work on making a more equitable, just, and tolerant world. This is the legacy we can create to ensure that these victims did not die in vain.