Rolland With The Punches: "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?"

Thirteen years ago today, I was in the sixth grade and leaving lunch with my usual crew of friends at school when we were herded into the school auditorium for a sudden school assembly.

“The Twin Towers have collapsed in an act of terrorism and President Bush will land at Barksdale Air Force Base before the day ends,”

That’s obviously a rusty quote from my middle school principal, but that is the gist of what was said.

I thought he was talking about the tallest bank building in downtown Shreveport. I was 12, what did I know about buildings. And why else was President Bush coming to my city?

Although my family and I had visited New York City, and seen the Twin Towers from the Staten Island Ferry, just a year earlier, I was clueless.

I don’t remember how I felt when I heard the news because I didn’t honestly understand what had happened. I didn’t know the location, the significance of the buildings, and much less, I didn’t know the meaning of terrorism. All I knew was the world had stopped; abruptly and briefly.

I do remember how I felt later that evening with my family watching the news coverage for hours on end.

The video footage, for the most part, was nothing more than smoke expelling from the hundredth-something floor and beyond, as civilians ran in panic in the streets below while the police, firemen and military swarmed in to do their best to control the situation and contribute maintaining the chaos.

There honestly isn’t much more to say because I was so young for this tragedy and it doesn’t hit as close to home to me. I do know the only beauty that comes from tragedies is the way humanity finds its way to the surface and humans come together as a nation.

In 2002, my family and I traveled to New York again and we saw Ground Zero. This was less than a year after the attacks. I remember a pit of rubble blocked off by a metal fence. Along the fence were plaques honoring the fallen and lost souls. Remembering lives lost. Sculptures were already placed around Ground Zero. Flowers had been thrown over the fence and now laid everywhere among the rubble that had yet to be cleared. To me, this was the most breathtaking and memorable moment I have of September 11, 2001.

At the time of my visit to New York City, the reality of the War on Terror was only in the beginning stages at this point, just as 9/11 had just begun to not be the headline in every newspaper.

The memorial at this stage was still very personal. The physical damage could still be seen in the rubble on the inside of the fence and the plastic draped alongside surrounding buildings that didn't fall.

There was a lot of fuss over it, but in America, if you attempt to shoot us down, we just rebuild... and bigger. The construction of the four skyscrapers to replace the original WTC towers began in 2006. The towers are known simply as the Freedom Towers: 1, 2, 3 and 4. The simplicity of the name is significant on its own.

In May of 2013, just seven years later, I visited New York City with my mom. They were just completing the fourth tower. The towers are absolutely beautiful. They have classic New York City elegance. On a perfect sunny day, like the one we had, the towers gleam throughout downtown Manhattan. They are symbolic and they are beautiful. These buildings are what serves as a memorial to me. The fact that we rebuilt the towers, and this time more and bigger.

Although the Freedom Towers are beautiful, the most beautiful form of remembering 9/11 hangs just outside every fire station in the city. On the wall outside of each station are beautiful marble plaques, and engraved in gold are the faces of heroes lost on 9/11 who belonged to the station.

This is what I think of when I think of 9/11.

Today, I was at my school and it was 1:30 p.m. before I remembered it was September 11. It is strange how I almost forgot because there have been no commercials for documentaries playing for the past week. No memorial service announcements and no memorial posts surfing around the Chinese Internet.

The line for September 11 is, “Never Forget!”

Although I didn’t remember sooner, today’s date will always be one to ring a bell of significance. It’s as familiar to the American people as October 31, December 25 and January 1. September 11 is a day that is never forgotten and a date that, although for tragic reasons, will always be branded into American minds.

It was strange to be in another country, on another continent today, but all the same, September 11 is still a day that, to this day, affects my country.

Say and believe what you will about the reason for the war, but there is still a war on terror happening everyday and lives being affected by it daily.

Just remember to never forget. And, it’s not about the war, but about the innocent lives stolen before there even was a war and all the many lives that continue to be swept from life all too soon.

***I don't have any access to the photos of the memorial when I went in 2002, but here are a few from May 2013. :) I also don't know which tower is which.