New Article – “American Apathy Toward 9/11”

Hey all. Very stressful 9/11 for me in a lot of ways. I’m not gonna go into it much, other than to post an article that I’ve written and will hopefully be published on the website that I write for, http://www.generationq.net.

American Apathy Towards 9/11
By Luke Miller

Too often on this, the 5th anniversary of that fateful September 11th of 2001 was I scorned by friends and strangers in my classes for showing emotion in relation to the events that transpired. Yes, remembering the deaths of those 2,749 completely innocent people killed in a savage act of terrorism and murder evokes strong emotions in me. What I can’t understand is why so many people, and especially young people, in our country don’t share those same emotions.

On that beautiful morning, two planes tore into a major center of American commerce in an open act of aggression and war. The tearing metal, shattering glass, crumbling walls, and incendiary jet fuel destroyed the lives of many in the building on impact alone.

The innocent men, women, and children aboard the planes suffered the abject horror of what was about to happen and were also utterly destroyed.

People were incinerated where they stood and dashed to pieces. People actually leapt to their death rather than suffer the horror of the roaring flames.

The structural integrity of the buildings failed and collapsed, killing so many more and trapping others underneath the rubble, waiting for a slow and painful death.

Many of these were courageous policemen and fire fighters rushing to help those that they could. These people were crushed. Pierced. Choked to death on clouds of dust. Had the very life torn from them by those that wish our entire country death. They had their flesh burned from their bones.

A courageous crew on United Airlines flight 93 spent their last minutes of life attempting to prevent further loss of life and destruction.

Why is it that when someone shows reverence for those who have died, many people feel the need to play down what they are feeling? Why are Americans afraid to remember that 2,749 innocent American citizens were ruthlessly slaughtered in cold blood by terrorists? When I told a friend that I had cried when watching the story of two French brothers who were doing a documentary on a local fire station when the attacks occurred, his response was literally “God, people still think that much about it? Why can’t we just move on already?” I’m not talking about the war in Iraq, or about Afghanistan, or the President. I am talking about the murder of thousands of Americans.

We should be rising up as a people, showing solidarity in this time of remembrance and pain. No matter your views on our President, the war we are in, or any other political rhetoric tied to this event, don’t insult the lives of those that died in the fires and destruction of the terrorist attacks by downplaying and saying we should forget.

Why have Americans begun to forget? The terrorists haven’t.

I’m hoping it will be published, but I can’t say for sure. If it is, I’ll let you all know.

-Luke