Ask anyone alive at the time where they were Sept. 11, 2001, chances are they’ll be able to recall exactly what they were doing and who was with them.
That fateful day, 18 years to the day yesterday, started out as a regular Tuesday. That was until 8:46 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the side of New York’s World Trade Center’s North Tower. Seventeen minutes later, American Airlines Flight 175 flew into the South Tower. Just over half an hour later, a third plane flew into the Pentagon. A fourth crashed in a field near Pennsylvania after passengers aboard began to resist the hijackers. Its intended target was never fully determined, though it’s believed to have been somewhere in Washington DC, either the White House or Capitol building.
The direct aftermath of those terrifying crashes was nearly 3,000 people dead, with an undetermined amount of people who contracted cancer and lung diseases from the burning rubble during rescue efforts passing away a few months or even years after the initial attack.
Terrible and senseless as those murders were, the response seen across the U.S. and here in Canada was one of the few positives to come out of such a disturbing event. For weeks after the attack we saw political parties put aside their differences and work together to try and restore order and help those affected by the acts of terror. Families expressed their love and appreciation for one another more openly as the message of never taking a day for granted hit home. We saw neighbours and complete strangers go out of their way to help those in need. Here in Canada we helped our neighbours to the south by welcoming 38 planes to the small town of Gander, NFLD. The heart warming story of providing hospitality to passengers who had just undergone a traumatic experience has since been adopted to a popular play known as Come from Away.
Just a few short weeks after the attack that shook New York City to its core, one of its Major League Baseball teams, the Yankees, reached the World Series. In a show of support never before seen, and not seen since then, lifelong Boston Red Sox fans were openly cheering for their hated rivals in the fall classic.
A lot has changed since Sept. 11, 2001, some of it for the better, some for the worse. That sense of national patriotism displayed by all 50 U.S. States has for the most part waned. Our nearest neighbours appear as divided as ever.
Unfortunately it took a national tragedy to pull everyone together. We hope to never see anything as horrific as that ever again. The sense of pride and togetherness we saw in the aftermath however, would always be a welcome sight.
-Adam Prudhomme