Growing up we learned about different tragedies that have taken place in America, from assassinations of great leaders like John F. Kennedy to mass tragedies like the Discovery Space Shuttle. We learned about the incredible impact these events had on the psyche of the American public, we were inundated with photos and video clips and told by our parents and teachers what those moments in our history were like. We heard stories from parents and teachers detailing where they were or what they were doing during when the tragedies occurred and how they felt. These accounts are valuable, however, this is all we have to rely on…the words of others. We weren’t alive; we didn’t experience these events first hand so we will never truly know how the nation was impacted.

When it comes to September 11^th the story is completely different. We remember. We were alive, albeit incredibly young, to experience the complete horror of that infamous moment. I vividly remember sitting in my 2^nd grade classroom, we were about to go to Spanish class, when our teacher turned on the television in our classroom. We were met with the image of smoke billowing from the top of the North Tower, and people running through the streets in terror. At the time I couldn’t comprehend the magnitude of what I was watching for I was only 7, but as tears streamed down my teacher’s face I knew this was a massive moment in the history of our country; and as years passed by I began to realize that 9/11 was one of the defining moment of our generation. September 11^th is our tragedy; we are the last generation to remember where we were when the news broke (most likely those born 1995-96 and earlier) and what we were doing. We are the last generation that will be able to explain the crippling the affect this tragedy had on the psyche of the American public then and the affect it still has many years later.

With that, comes the responsibility of making sure the memory of 9/11 is tainted. We must make sure that in the future September 11^th isn’t a day to glorify political leaders whom were in power at the time, we must make sure that September 11^th is a day to speak hatefully about Muslims; it is our responsibility to make sure that September 11^th remains a day of remembrance and nothing else. As September 11^th is the tragedy of our generation, we must make sure it’s memory isn’t tarnished.