September 11, 2001 Collection
Today I started a difficult task.
I am taking a class called Intro to Archival Management and the final paper is one where I will basically process a currently unprocessed collection. My topic still hasn’t been approved, but I have gone ahead and started working on it even so.
I chose to work on my September 11, 2001 collection. I knew it was a fairly large cllection, but as I was going through the various newspapers (and yes, the Reflector is among them), I was surpised at just how large it really is.
As I went through them, I couldn’t help but actually read some of the print-outs from around that time. I also could not resist the commerative magazines I had purcahsed either. What this resulted in was an overflow of emotions and (I am not ashamed to say) tears. Part of it was due to remembering what happened that day and how I felt. Part of it was the realization of how quickly we, as a nation, forgot. I wanted to both laugh and cry everytime I read the words “We will never forget.” I have no doubt there are many who have not forgotten that day, but I also have evidence of many who apparently have.
Anyway, I felt like sharing this with all of you and wonder what you think about this.
Victoria,
I don’t know if anyone who lived through that day will ever forget it…but neither do we want to relive that awful day again and again. We must remember 9/11 and all the other atrocious days in history or else we are doomed to repeat them. Keep compiling your stuff.
As for me, I do what I do now because of 9/11. My life and career were changed on that awful day but in a very good way.
Comment by Rob Mellen — December 7, 2008 @ 11:16 pm
I was only in the 8th grade when it happened. Maybe I was ignorant to the world before that day, but after then, I became obsessed. I collected every news paper, magazine, photos, etc. I wanted to be there. I begged my father to take me to the zone so I could see it first hand. Though I wasn’t effected directly by losing someone or living near NYC, I could feel every broken heart. It tore me apart. I wanted to stop the evil that created that day. Ever since, I became consumed with the idea that I would protect our country, my loved ones, and others from evil. I feel blessed that I am close to the opportunity to serve my country.
However,
it seems as though many around me just see it as another day. My one friend even knew someone who was killed on the plane that crashed into one of the towers. She doesn’t think about it anymore. Maybe it is her way to deal with it; I don’t know what she is feeling. My co-workers didn’t even know that it was a national holiday. I had to put ‘Patriot Day’ on our calendar.
America has become desensitized to atrocities. An overwhelming group of the population has forgotten. We don’t think about others like we used to. Surely we banded together for the first few months after the attack, but what now? Do we still fly our flags as proudly? Do we still say the pledge of allegiance in our public schools as often as we used to? What happened to us? Where did our spirit, our pride, and our passion go to?
Why do we think the war is over?
Comment by MLewis — September 9, 2009 @ 6:54 pm