View from The Voice: 9/11 – A rite of passage for a generation
Editorial from The Voice
We, by nature as people, are all inherently different in our views and ideals. This is why we all reacted differently when we heard the news of the 9/11 attacks on that day. Some became scared while others became angry, and there were so many more views that were far and in-between. Today, the aftermath of that event can be seen around the nation and world we live in. But also, we as children of this world must realize that this was not the first event that changed our country, or the world.
Seven years later, on Sept. 11, 2008, it was like another day for many people of our generation, other than the date. We all know what that date means to us, how we react to it from that point is what makes us all different. This is where the variance of views came to light from two articles that were written in The Voice as well as in the messages that some of our staff members received. Writing this now, we have come to realize that we, as a generation, will never forget this day, ever. However, in reality, it is already passing into the depths of our minds.
An example of this can be taken straight from that day. When we think of Sept. 11th, the first images to come to mind are those of the Twin Towers. But how many of us can say we think of the twisted metal of the Pentagon? Or flight 93, whose brave occupants charged the cockpit. They, for most of us, are already out of mind. Not forgotten, just out of mind. But this still goes further.
Oct. 29, 1929; Dec. 7, 1941; June 6, 1944; April 4, 1968; Nov. 22, 1969; Jan. 28, 1986; April 19, 1995; April 20, 1999; Feb. 1, 2003. These dates, to some in our generation mean nothing, because we either weren’t alive, don’t remember or only know of them from history books. Yet, all of these events were horribly tragic to the American society and generations that witnessed them first hand. But today few of us in college even really know just how these events have shaped the current world we live in today; we are blind to them. Someday generations that come after us, like our children and the children of our children, will look at Sept. 11th that same way. Some of them will only read about it in a history book, while looking at the pictures like we did for some of those dates listed above.
Some would say that statement is incorrect, but in truth, each generation has been rocked by a tragedy that affected them. To say one tragedy is more important than another is wrong. For that society, at that time it was their most horrifying hour, and it was something they would never have forgotten. Just like we at The Voice have not forgotten 9/11, it simply is there; it is our rite of passage. And although we acknowledge and will never forget it, we all believe we have, and must, move on.
