September 11, 2001, changed the history of the United States forever. Millions of people remember where they were when they learned that something terrible was happening in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. But for generations born afterward, 9/11 is not a lived memory; it is a story that deserves to be known, understood, and remembered with respect.
The attacks of September 11, 2001, were carried out by 19 members of the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda, led at the time by Osama bin Laden, who planned and financed the operation. The hijackers were 19 men on a suicide mission; 15 of the terrorists were citizens of Saudi Arabia, 2 were from the United Arab Emirates, 1 was from Egypt, and 1 was from Lebanon. They hijacked four commercial airliners belonging to U.S. carriers, using them as guided missiles to crash into iconic buildings: two in New York, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m., and United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.; a third, American Airlines Flight 77, struck the Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., at 9:43 a.m.; and the fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:06 a.m. following a passenger revolt, its intended target was the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Credit: Post shared by Periódico Hoy @periodicohoyrd
On that day, 2,977 people lost their lives in the terrorist attacks against the United States, behind that figure were families, friends, and colleagues as well as dreams and lives that were just beginning or had already spanned a lifetime.
There were also the stories of those who ran toward danger to help. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, emergency workers, and ordinary citizens demonstrated immense solidarity. Many risked their own lives to save others, and some never returned home. But 9/11 also left stories of survival, people who managed to escape, strangers who helped others reach safety, and communities that found ways to support one another amidst a loss of unfathomable magnitude. In those moments, one of the most human lessons of the tragedy emerged: when everything changes, a tremendous capacity to help one another can also come to light.
The impact did not end when the images of that morning faded. The United States transformed its security system, and the way the world traveled changed as well. Airports adopted new procedures, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was established in 2001 an agency that is now part of the daily experience for millions of travelers.
9/11 also ushered in a completely new era in international politics. The so-called “War on Terror” led the United States to intervene militarily in Afghanistan and later in Iraq, decisions that continue to have political, military, and human consequences. There is another conversation that remains important: in the wake of the attacks, many Muslims and communities of Arab descent faced prejudice and discrimination. Remembering 9/11 also means understanding that terrorism belongs to those who commit terrorist acts not to a religion or to the millions of people who share a culture or a faith.
Remembering is also an act of building collective memory; that is why the 9/11 Memorial & Museum now stands on the site where the Twin Towers once rose. Two vast reflecting pools mark the footprints of the towers and bear the names of those who perished. It is a space to pause, to remember, and to understand that behind every name was a real person someone who left a mark on the world, as well as a void in the lives of family, friends, and acquaintances.
Over the past 25 years, the story of 9/11 has also been told through film, music, literature, photography, documentaries, and survivor testimonies. Each generation finds its own way to engage with that history. And therein lies one of today’s great challenges: how do we explain 9/11 to someone born years later who never saw the Twin Towers standing? Perhaps the answer lies not merely in recalling the events themselves, but in understanding what they meant to people, how they transformed the United States, and what we learned as a society.
For young people today, learning about the events of September 11th does not have to mean living in the past or harboring resentment over what happened. Instead, it means understanding those events so as not to repeat the same mistakes and using that knowledge as a map to guide our future. It can also mean looking back with respect, honoring those who lost their lives, expressing gratitude to those who helped, and understanding how a generation faced one of the most difficult moments in modern U.S. history.
For remembering does not mean dwelling in the past; Es aprender de él para construir un futuro con más empatía, unidad y respeto.
