The 14th Anniversary of One of the Darkest Days in U.S. History

By: Caty Scharnagle

Photo By: Anthony Quintano https://www.flickr.com/photos/quintanomedia/15071865580

On September 11, 2001, Americans suffered an enormous loss when two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, and a third into the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The first plane hit the North tower at 8:46 a.m. and the second plane hit the South tower at 9:03 a.m. Killing over 2,000 people, this act of terrorism has been remembered by the nation every year since it happened.

Kelly Hourihan’s brother was supposed to have been on one of the planes that crashed into the towers because of a business trip. However, his company had changed the agenda of the trip and he was not on the plane after all.

“It was by the grace of God that he wasn’t on the plane,” Kelly said.

Even though time goes on there will always be this reminder of the “grace of God” on September 11^th for Kelly.

Hourihan, a mother living in Massachusetts, remembers seeing the breaking news on the television. Although attempting to call friends and family to make sure they were safe, all she heard were busy tones.

Christy Scharnagle was 5 years old when the attack happened. At a school in Maryland, she was sitting in her first grade class when the planes hit the Twin Towers.

“I remember that class just stopped being normal, she stopped teaching and we were just there, and people’s parents kept picking them up and no one would tell me why,” Christy Scharnagle said.

Christy Scharnagle remembers that day while being a student in Maryland, close to the attack at the Pentagon, her and her classmates were picked up by parents early.

Later her mother would explain to her why everyone was leaving school early. Mrs. Scharnagle explained how the planes flew into the towers and many people were killed.

Being older, Christy Scharnagle has reflected on the events of that day many times since.

“I think it hurt so many people but it hurt people in one location and the whole country responded in the same way,” Christy said. “But I think it is funny [how everyone] was so unified and then after there was so much persecution of the Muslims and the religion even though it wasn’t because of all of them.

Abdur Yousafzai, an American Muslim, remembers the attacks as a defining point in his life.

“As a Muslim American…you have this identity crisis, you don’t want to say where who you are or where you’re from because you assume people are going to associate you with the attack,” Abdur said.

Although people became more aware of people different from them, people such as Christy Scharnagle also recognized that not all people different from themselves are the same as everyone else.

 “There was this one time where I sat next to someone [on a plane] with a turban and I was afraid he was going to take our plane, but even as a child I could immediately differentiate that this was a different person [than the 9/11 hijackers],” said Christy Scharnagle. “I think it’s crazy that people judged [others] because they were Muslims.”

The fourteenth anniversary reminds all Americans that even though years have passes since the tragedy, the significance of that day will not diminish.

“We have to still move on, but then I was thinking of the families [that lost someone because of the attacks] and how they feel. I keep moving on, but they live with it every day,” Kelly Hourihan said.