Today In History: Patriot Day

I know it’s time to remember — that dark day in history drops worse than anything imaginable. We have barely arrived at the library, when Irina rushes in, urging me to look at the television coverage in her adjoining office. We stand aghast at the live pictures: a jumbo jet barreling full force into the World Trade Center --  blue skies, smoke, sirens, people running -- then jumping, chaos ensuing. We watch in disbelief as another plane ploughs straight into its south tower … before two more serve to bomb the Pentagon and Pennsylvanian countryside …

No one knows what to say, what to do. Calls and e-mails fly anxiously between friends and family from all over the country and world. Subways begin shutting down. Ling walks quietly in to see me and we leave early, slowly finding our way down Broadway to 96th street. Policemen are everywhere, traffic is jammed up. We cut across to Central Park, finding a rock to rest on — many people all in a daze. We reassure each other, peck away at our small packed lunches. She has a much longer walk downtown …. and I am several months pregnant.

The next days are disturbing -- toxic fumes, the smell of sulphur, cement, and bodies in the air, stealing the wind along the East River all the way uptown, as a certain quietness blankets a city in deep mourning. The leaves are not yet turning, and I soon learn that my uncle is volunteering at Ground Zero. He comes home tired, coughing, and committed, while we keep our windows shut at home, trying to close out the memory.

Free food is distributed from restaurants, a welcome gesture of kindness to our neighborhood. New Yorkers seem kinder, more courteous. They say hello, listen, offer their seats on buses and in subways. It's the sure feeling of love, attachment, and devotion to our city -- and country. Tragedy softens the typical brusqueness, while the city plans to rebuild, reconstruct, and reconnect. But I find myself asking, how long will this gentleness last, and how would one fare if one did not focus on new life, a happiness coming into the hardest of times?

September 11th commemorates the victims of the 2001 Islamist terrorist attacks on the United States by Al-Qaeda. On that fateful morning,  beginning at 8:46am EST, 19 terrorists hijacked 4 commercial planes scheduled to fly from California to the East Coast, the first two of which crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, and the next two, into the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., and Stonycreek, rural Pennsylvania. Close to 3,000 people died, and thousands were injured, suffered, or eventually died due to long-term health issues caused by toxins, traumatic stress, and other serious environmental  and psychological consequences. More than ten billion dollars in damage to infrastructure and property also resulted, taking years to restore and rebuild the city, headquarters for defense, and land.

Considered a national day of mourning, September 11th is marked by flags flown at half mast on government buildings and at the White House, often with moments of silence that correspond with the attacks. From President George W. Bush to President Joe Biden, the day has been solemnly observed, while belief and trust in freedom and democracy have prevailed.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Rangel, C. (2001, Sep 20). An Open Letter on the Terrorist Attack Against the United States. New York Amsterdam News (1962-) 
• Sept. 11 Named Patriot Day. (2001, Dec 19). The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Explaining the Attacks. (2003, Sep 11). The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Finding Words to Explain a Tragic Time. (2003, Sep 11). The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Kinzie, S. (2005, May 15). For College Freshmen in 2001, Innocence Was Lost: Class of 2005 Began College Like None Before Them; Sept. 11 Attacks Defined Area Students' Experience. The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Dvorak, P. (2005, Sep 11). Historians Fear Attack Date's Significance Could Fade. The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Kelly, J. (2005, Aug 25). In Competition With a Calamity. The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Khadaroo, S.T.  (2010, Sep 10). September 11 in Schools: How Teachers Are Helping Students Understand: September 11 Can Be a Difficult Subject for Students to Make Sense of, But Teachers Have an Expanding Set of Resources to Help Students Think About the Day. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Goodale, G. (2011, Sep 07). Too Young to Understand, 'Generation 9/11' Embraces Media for Meaning: Many Americans Who Were Too Young to Understand the Events of 9/11 At the Time Are Now Using the Avalanche of Media Coverage to Gain a Deeper Understanding of That Brutal Day in History. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Slobin, S. (2011, Sep 10). After the Fall, World Trade Center: An Archaeology of Grief. Wall Street Journal (1923-) 

Tips:

• Brown, Don. America Is under Attack : September 11, 2001 : The Day the Towers Fell. First edition. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2011.  Curriculum ; HV6432.7 .B767 2011
• Coates, Susan W, Jane L Rosenthal, and Daniel S. Schechter. September 11 : Trauma and Human Bonds. Hillsdale, N.J: Analytic Press, 2003. e-book.
• Grolnick, Maureen, ed. Forever After : New York City Teachers on 9/11. New York, New York ; Teachers College Press, 2006.  Stacks ; HV6432.7 .F667 2006. e-book.
• McNally, Joe. Faces of Ground Zero : Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001. First edition. Boston: Little, Brown, 2002. Oversize ; HV6432.7 .M36 2002
• One Nation : America Remembers September 11, 2001. First edition. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Oversize ; HV6432.7 .O54 2001

Images:

• View of Lower Manhattan from the Manhattan Bridge, September 11, 2001, by Camilo J. Vergaro, Courtesy of Library of Congress.
• Poster Image:  September 11, Courtesy of Canva.