Jonathan Johnson, Jaylen Petty, Kaylee Sutherland
September 11, 2001 was, and still is, one of the worst terrorist attacks in all of history. On this tragic day, four planned terrorist attacks took place by an extremist group known as al-Qaeda. Four commercial airlines were hijacked. Two of these planes crashed into the north and south World Trade Center Towers in Manhattan, one crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and another was aimed towards the White House. However, courageous citizens took control of this flight and sacrificed their lives, as the plane crashed into a nearby field in Pennsylvania.
Many people’s lives were taken on this catastrophic day, causing grief to millions in our nation and worldwide. Even though some of us were not born to experience the attack, teachers of Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, amongst many other adults, were. The events of September 11th left the world different than it was prior to this tragic day.
On the 22nd anniversary, in 2023, many people spoke out to memorialize the day and commemorate those who sacrificed their lives. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani went to the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan. The ceremony honored those who had died on September 11th. U.S. President Joe Biden made a remembrance of the victims of 9/11 from a military base in Alaska, stating, “Now it shouldn’t take a national tragedy to remind us of the power of national unity. But that’s how we truly honor those we lost on 9/11.”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump also spoke out, as well, saying, “No one who lived through the horror of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks can ever forget the agony and the anguish of that terrible day. It was a terrible day. The images of dark plumes of smoke billowing over lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and a field of Pennsylvania — such a beautiful field — are seared into our minds forever.”
At Cardozo High School, many staff members recalled where they were or what they were doing on that tragic day, even 22 years later. Ms. DePalo, an English teacher and dean at Cardozo, spoke on how that day had personally affected her. That day, she was in Detroit, Michigan, attending college, and heard the news about the attack from her peers and the media. It wasn’t until 3 months later when she took a trip to New York and visited the attack site that she saw how people had come together to memorialize the lives that were lost and honor the heroes who risked their own.
“I remember going down to the site and just seeing pictures and flowers and posters and first responders everywhere,” Ms. DePalo recalls. She spoke about those around her who consoled one another, and how touching the scene was. “Everyone is talking in the street to one another, comforting each other…people you can tell did not know each other.” Ms. DePalo, alongside many others, witnessed many people of different backgrounds and upbringings coming together as one to mourn a shared loss and commemorate the days ahead.
Ms. Mavromihalis, a Journalism teacher and dean at Cardozo, shared that she was working here at Cardozo when the attack occurred. “No one ever realized that we can see the buildings from Cardozo windows…it’s a day I’ll never forget.” Moreover, Ms. Mavromihalis spoke about the heroes from her community who fought to help others, and how 22 years later, their bravery and courage are still being honored today. “In my town, there’s a couple of people who passed away, I knew two of them. [My town] does a little memorial on September 11th to remember the people lost as well as the people who were heroic that day.”
Many staff members across Cardozo also memorialized the day by wearing patriotic attire with American flags or simply sporting red, white, and blue. Despite the two decades that have passed, it is clear that September 11th will always be a challenging day for many around the world, and a day that individuals will use to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
