Where were you when the world stopped turning? I keep thinking about that phrase as I look through my whindsheild at the view of varying terrain with one constant: the American Flag. Fifteen years ago, the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil occurred. I remember it, I was only six. Mrs. Hintz told us kids when we got to school, we went to her house down the road to watch the news for a while. As a first grader I didn’t really understand all of it, but I knew it wasn’t good. In the subsequent days, the weight of the attack really settled in. To this day I still get chills when I think about the immediate and lasting effects that those planes had on our country and the world.
When I was in high school, I went on a 4-H trip, and along the way, we stopped in New York City and went to Ground Zero and saw the construction going on there. We walked by the closest fire department that was the first responders after the first plane hit. I still remember the goosebumps and tears that prickled as well as the silence as 50 some kids stood there taking in our surroundings.
September 11, 2016 and I am traveling back to college from our first college rodeo of the season in River Falls, Wisconsin. There is nothing that emphasizes the events that occurred 15 years ago like the freedom of the open road and being privileged enough to travel over 800 miles to do what I love. At every rodeo a prayer is read and we all stand still for the National Anthem, and I have never seen someone not cover their heart with their hand, at least from the contestants.
I think it is what we do that makes us appreciate the freedom that this country grants us. I suppose that some of it is the freedom we feel on the open—sometimes very congested—road or the rush we get while competing, or maybe it is the simple and appreciative way we were raised that help us understand what it means to live in this country and what freedom means to different people.
I know that there has been a huge outrage about people not participating in the National Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance, but today and this next week let us not dwell on the political stances and statements the media is bombing us with. Let’s become united once again and stand in memory of those who perished in the attack and those who have defended and are defending us and our rights to live in the Land of the Free. There are some who aren’t here today to remember what happened so let’s respect them and their sacrifices.
As I drive through little towns across a four-state area the flags are up and the fire trucks are shined up and parked out in remembrance and support, not letting the images of this day 15 years ago fade, so in 20, 25, or 50 years this date stays as important and relevant as it is to us today. Today of all days, let us be kind to our fellow man, and let it carry us through the next days, weeks and months.
