We must never forget Sept. 11

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001. It was on that day, of course, the United States experienced the deadliest terrorist attack ever on American soil. Nineteen members of the extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes. Two of the planes were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, causing both buildings to collapse. A third plane struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., while the fourth crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa., after passengers and crew attempted to regain control of the aircraft.
Terroritts murdered 3,000 people that day, including passengers and crew members aboard the planes, workers and visitors in the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and 343 firefighters and 23 New York City police officers who died while responding to the attacks. Thousands more were injured, and countless first responders and survivors were exposed to dangerous conditions that would affect their health for years afterward.
It was a day that forever changed the United States of America. We were attacked on our own soil. For people who were old enough to remember it, it is one of those “where were you” moments in your lives. Everyone remembers where they were, and what they were doing when they first heard of the airplanes hitting the first tower. On this page is six recollections of that day from our readers, six of just many stories people have as they watched the horrors of that day unfold.
There were ceremonies held to remember that fateful day all across the country last Friday, including in Custer. At the Custer Veterans Memorial, people gathered for a flag retirement ceremony which has now become an annual event on Sept. 11. There was a moment of silence held before the Custer High School football game, and poetically, but unplanned, a C-130 flew overhead right as the National Anthem was playing. While it was not arranged everyone loved the moment. We understand the plane is actually doing some lidar scanning to map the area. What amazing timing for it to circle over the football field at that exact time.
As was said at the time of the attack, we must never forget. We must never forget all of those who had their lives taken that day, and those who died trying to save lives. They made the ultimate sacrifice. We honor them.
We think back to how united this country was on Sept. 12, 2001. We long for those days. We don’t long for the events that led to it, but we long for that feeling and love. There were no Republicans, no Democrats. There were only Americans. Americans full of pride, and quite frankly, Americans who were pissed. We remember a march through Custer that was a sea of red, white and blue and ended with a spontaneous “U-S-A, U-S-A” chant. It was a time that was all at the same time uncertain, precarious, scary—and beautiful.
The best way to honor those who died Sept. 11, 2001 is to be who we were Sept. 12, 2001. We must never forget.