Always Remember

September 11, 2001, will always be a day of remembrance for many in the United States of America. How can we forget the tragic attack on many American lives and the twin towers in downtown New York City? You can’t; the thoughts are too horrific to forget, the scenes of smoke and fire-belching out of the twin towers, people jumping out of windows to escape the fires only to plummet to a hard and unforgiving ground below.

No one will never forget the scene of this travesty. Every year we stop to remember the many that died and the many that died saving others. 19 years ago, it happened, and yet 19 years later, it is still so fresh in our hearts and minds. We will never forget the almost 3,000 people that died and the more than 6,000 that were injured. Yes, this not only happened at the world trade towers but also let’s not forget the 125 at the Pentagon. Who would have ever thought something like this could have happened to us in the US?

We have always felt so secure and untouchable, but that was our wake up call that nowhere is safe from the claws of terrorists and terrorism.

Everyone came together during this time; no one cared about what uniform someone was wearing. No one cared what gender or ethnicity you were; we all came together as Americans and wept upon one another’s shoulders. America became one and wrapped their arms around the hurting and embraced them as if they were one of their very own beloved family members. Men, women, children, policemen, firemen, and soldiers cried one with another and bemoaned the travesty and loss.

Albert Biatta, of Queens section of New York prays while standing front of the inscribed name of his uncle Antoine Biatta at the edge of the North Pool during memorial observances on the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014. Family and friends of those who died read the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Justin Lane, Pool)

NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11: Scott Willens, who joined the U.S. Army three days after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, pauses by the South Pool during memorial ceremonies for the eleventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan at the World Trade Center site September 11, 2012 in New York City. New York City and the nation are commemorating the eleventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and one crash landed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Lane-Pool/Getty Images)

We lifted our voices and cried together and for each other. America lost her innocence and security that day, but America did not crumble and fall apart. No, we grew strong, the patriotic spirit rose to a tremendous rise that knew no bounds and had no limits.

Daniel Henry, a Port Authority of New York/New Jersey police officer, pauses during a moment of silence at 9:01 am EDT, at the South reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2013. AFP PHOTO / Stan HONDA / POOLSTAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images

There was so much confusion, so much anguish upon America’s hearts, the fear and the terror that gripped and shook our country as a whole. Yes, people, we were one, one people, one nation, one America.

So as you think on these times of memory as September seems to be full of them, both memories and memorials, let us take a time out from our day and pay our respects to the fallen victims of 9/11 and always remember, lest we should forget.

This is your roving reporter, Asa Darkbyrd signing off,

May your heart be filled with peace and love for one another, we are all human beings and we all deserve to be treated as such, love one another, have compassion for one another and always remember to treat one another with respect and dignity.

PO1 Asa Darkbyrd

SLCG Magazine

Assistant Editor