The Eagle Times

Editor’s Corner September 14, 2007

I’ll never forget September 11, 2001. I was sitting in Mrs. Kirkland’s sixth grade math class when she turned on the TV to the news. I looked up from my fractions to see a plane fly straight into one of the twin towers, just as confused as everyone else in my class. Did the pilot lose control? Apparently not, it was confirmed, as the second plane flew into the second tower a few minutes later.

We didn’t realize right then how much of an impact that day would have on our lives—and our country—forever, but even at eleven years old, we knew something horrible was happening. I remember tearful talks from teachers and frantic parents pulling their kids out of school for the day. There was the fear that the terrorists would aim for the South’s chemical industry next. And of course, the footage of the tragedy was played on every major news network constantly for the entire month, and even beyond that.

Six years later, we’re still recovering from the blow of 9/11. Everyday life has, for the most part, returned to normal…except that now “normal” includes being searched at airports with almost annoyingly extra-high security. Our soldiers are in Iraq and Afghanistan, doing their best to make everything right again, but are being met with resistance. Just this week a message from Osama bin Laden was released in a videotape, expressing how America isn’t out of danger yet.

As printed in “The Herald Sun,” one of Australia’s biggest newspapers, Robert Mueller of the FBI warned, “Perhaps the greatest danger the United States faces is complacency as the years since 9/11 pass.” So we aren’t out of the darkness yet.

But as we continue to heal, hopefully we’ll stick together as a country by supporting our troops and praying for peace.

By Susie LeJeune