Is 9/11 Being Forgotten?

By: Erich Maynard

            With the anniversary of the attack on the twin towers the question is, do people still remember the incident?

            Compared to people out of college, do college students really remember what happened on September, thirteen years ago?

            The Average College senior would have been in the fourth grade when the attack on the twin towers happened.

             Do these students remember what happened that day, in comparison their parents and grandparents? Does everyone believe 9/11 is being remembered in the same way?

            Stonehill Junior Amanda Pepe who is from Valley Cottage, New York was in the second grade, “I remember the principal coming over the owe speaker saying the school was on shut down, and not to turn on the Tv’s but my teacher did anyways, and we all watched the second plane fly into the trade center,” pepe said.

             She and her class mates were more concerned about being able to go out to recess that day then what was happening in New York City.

            “I realized later that day how serious everything was since my mother worked in the city and she wasn't able to come home until about midnight since everything was shut down.” Said Pepe.

`           When asked how does she feel about the way America remembers and honors what happened on that day she responded, “ Being from New York I have been to the 9/11 memorial many times and you really have a gray atmosphere remembering everyone there its really quiet and its all around the city remembering everyone. Coming from a New York standpoint no one really forgets.”

            In comparison to asking a New York Native, Blake Ducker a Sophomore who is from California had a different view on the incident.

            “ I don't remember much, I remember waking up in the morning and my mom watching the news since we’re three hours behind, as soon as I got to school we watched the news. We are all pretty young so we didn't really know what was going on,” ducker said.

            Both students remember the incident and realize how bad of incident it was but when it came to their opinions on how the country remembers the incident their opinions varied. While speaking to people who are older than college students their opinions changed even more.

            Robert Deloria age 81 who lives in Pittsfield Massachusetts vividly remembers what he did on september eleventh.

            “I woke up, I took a shower, when I got downstairs I turned on the radio for breakfast and thats when I found out. From that point on Joan and I were in front of the set all day listening to what happened,” Deloria said.

            As the conversation progressed and the the subject of how people remember the attack today his response was,

            “I think people are starting to forget it, when things are good, the bad things always get forgotten,” Deloris said.

            Lynn Maynard a 52 year resident of Pittsfield Mass also had an alternative view point of looking at how America honors the fallen that day in September.

            Firstly she spoke about what she remembered that day, “I remember driving to work and listening to the radio and thinking it was a joke until I changed the radio station and every station was telling me the same thing, I called dean and when he heard he said ‘whats the punch line?’ because he didn't believe it either. We were all just in complete shock,” Maynard said.

            She was even more stunned about the crash because had been in the city only a week before on a business trip. “I believe that its nice that the news stations continue every year having a day of remembrance, but at the same time I believe they need to stop. No one is ever going to forget but people need to stop bringing it up, it must be so incredibly hard family members and friends to have to relive the horrible incident every year.”

            Over 10,000 people visit the 9/11 memorial every day, it is a place of sadness, a place of remembrance and a place of peace. The attack on the world trade center was an event in which no one in America will truly forget, whether they are form New York itself or California.

            College students might not be able to remember as much as their older counterparts. They all learned the severity of the incident in the end.