This morning, close to Wall Road in New York, they’ll ring a bell and begin a roll name of practically 3,000 names — the loss of life toll from the September 11, 2001 terrorist assaults on the World Commerce Heart.
Comparable ceremonies can even happen in Arlington, Va. and Shanksville, Pa., which have been additionally websites the place planes hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists crashed on that horrible day.
I’ve written occasional bits about what I used to be doing on that day, and noticing how a lot in shock the whole nation was within the days and weeks after the assaults.
Lower than two days earlier than the Sept. 11 first anniversary, I attended the sphere hockey sport involving the 2 excessive faculties closest to the Pentagon assault: Washington-Lee and Yorktown.
Since then, each of those faculties have undergone levels of change. First off, Washington-Lee is now Washington-Liberty. Second, Yorktown has discovered a wealthy seam of type lately and have been a purpose away from repeating as VHSL state champions a 12 months in the past.
Twenty-two years in the past, Arlington was silent. I took a drive on the day of the assaults and went over to an space of Arlington close to the Washington-Lee campus, subsequent to a ballroom I used to frequent. An eerie silence had enveloped the place; police had applied an evacuation protocol, making each main street a one-way throughfare, very similar to what you would possibly see on interstates when a hurricane is approaching.
All the pieces — malls, retailers, bars — have been closed. Solely the occasional automotive was to be seen.
I circled again dwelling solely after a cease on the website the place a bunch of us did swing dance. The one different individuals in addition to me and the Military veteran who ran the promotion was one other dancer who labored as an insurance coverage agent. We spent about an hour collectively attempting to carry a dialog about something aside from what occurred that day, then parted methods.
The occasions of September 11, 2001 have been a worldwide occasion, one which can have been eclipsed by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic when it comes to sheer scope and scale. However the assaults can not and may by no means be forgotten, if solely due to the sheer hatred behind them as a deliberate assault.
Which is why, as common, this website goes black for the day.
