Remembering 9/11

As I was lowering the flag to half-mast in our towns veteran’s memorial earlier this evening in honor of the men and women who lost their lives 20 years ago tomorrow, my mind began to wonder.  It wondered back to where I was at on that fateful day 20 years ago when as a country, our world stopped turning for just a little while.

I was a freshman in college working as a teacher’s aide at Southeastern Louisiana University. On that particular morning, I had gone in early to start preparing for day.   As I was sitting there alone, the loudest most blood curdling scream that I have ever heard came down the hall.  

It had come from one of the professors in the department whose son worked in tower one. We later found out miraculously he had overslept that day and had not yet arrived at work when the plane flew into the building.

 I know that I will never forget that tragic day in American history and we as a country should never forget that day. Yet here we are 20 years later with an entire generation that never lived through that day. As tragic as that day was, the manner that all Americans, whether they were black, white, old, young, gay, straight, Republican or Democrat or anything else – all came together as one in support of the USA, our first responders, and our men and women in blue, is something I will never forget.

Of the 2,977 that perished, 344 where firefighters and 71 were law enforcement who selflessly ran into the buildings giving up their own lives to help save a stranger’s life. As divided as our country is right now, may we never forget the attack on our way of life and freedoms and the way we came together as an undivided country that day. United we stand yet divided we fall.

 I truly pray that as a country, we never have to experience something like that as country ever again – even as divided as we currently are as nation. God Bless America and God Bless the families of all the fallen on this 20th anniversary of 9/11/2001.

Hug your family and friends little tighter and thank a first responder today like we all did on that fateful day 20 years ago. Let’s see how much of a better place the world would be with a little more love in it.

Heath Barnes Burgess/ Mayor Woodsboro, MD