A Brief Retrospective on 9/11

9/11. The two numbers create a variety of mental representations in our heads. Towers collapsing, planes crashing, and the screams of Americans in their final moments. After 20 years, America is still struggling to recover from what appeared to be a typical Tuesday in the country. Despite the fact that that day permanently scarred America, it also brought the country closer together.

As a teenager who had never witnessed the 9/11 attacks, hearing stories from my parents and relatives piqued my interest in the emotions and trauma that Americans faced across the country. Todd Beamer, a colleague and friend of my father's, was aboard United Airlines Flight 93, one of the hijacked planes on their way to crash into the White House. Beamer was a man who was selfless, and my father never misses a chance to acknowledge all that he did for the US that day. When he found out that the plane was being hijacked, he attempted to make a credit card call from a phone on the back of a plane seat, but was routed to a customer-service representative, who transferred him to an GTE airfone supervisor. Beamer informed the supervisor that hijackers had taken over the plane and that one passenger had been killed. He also claimed that two of the hijackers were armed with knives and that one appeared to be carrying a bomb around his waist. He and a few other passengers luckily were able to guide the plane away from Washington D.C, so that the White House wouldn’t get affected.

Todd Beamer’s wife was expecting a child at the time, and he had always been an extremely family-oriented person. While he was on call with the supervisors, he was unsure if he would even make it out alive, so he had told them, "If I don't make it, please call my family and let them know how much I love them”. His last words were “let’s roll” before, at 563 miles per hour, the plane crashed upside down in an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The plane was less than an hour away from the White House, its designated target.

Although the plan to take over the plane failed, Beamer and the other passengers on the plane demonstrated to us Americans that we are selfless when it comes to defending our country. Their stories were one of many that deserve to be heard and passed on for generations. We've recently been divided again, but 9/11 shows how our problems can bring us closer together.

The legacy of these brave Americans still remain after 20 years, and they’ll continue to stand with the help of recent efforts through modern DNA technology, which will be used to identify the remains of more than 1,100 victims of the World Trade Center attack who have yet to be identified. While the remains of approximately 1,600 of the 2,754 World Trade Center victims have been identified, the process has slowed over time, with the most recent identification occurring in 2019. Most of the human remains are located at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, but without proper DNA identification, it is difficult to find out which body belongs to which family.

Rosemary Cain is a woman whose son, George, passed away while fighting the fires at the twin towers. She has yet to receive the remains of her son. “If there is the tiniest morsel of my son, I want him back.” Cain says, "He belongs to me."

The forensic science project was expected to launch in 2019, but it was delayed due to COVID-19. However, it seems appropriate to begin deeper searches on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Hopefully, this attack will be the last of its kind in American history. Regardless, 9/11 will never be a day to forget, and we will forever remember those who sacrificed their life for our country.