Today, on Sunday May 1, 2011, is the day, I shall reflect both my experiences on what happened that day, and my experiences on the day that I first heard these attacks. Let's start with what happened that Tuesday, the day of the 9/11 attacks.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001: 9:15 AM, to September 15, 2001-
I remember that we, as 4th graders, were on a field trip headed to This Is The Place heritage park and Hansen-Clark Planetarium for the day, until all of a sudden when we were on 600 south, we turned back to Granite Elementary School after an official announcement that the trip had been cancelled. I thought we got into school trouble at that time. At first glance, whilst we were on Highland Drive, near my house on the bus headed to those aforementioned locations, I heard noises and shouting on the bus radio saying something about some kind of plane crash, although I admit, I was fairly dumb at listening skills at that time, so I couldn't understand from that situation.
Okay, why did we stay outside of the school for a recess that lasted for 2-4 hours? I was really confounded by why this was the case throughout the day. It wasn't until I got home after school that day, that I would hear the worst of the news occur to us: The World Trade Center (both North and South Towers) was attacked and destroyed by hijackers of Flights 11 and 175, respectively, who were all associated with al-Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden. In addition, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, and Flight 93 went down into a field in Pennsylvania.
What happened after this? No survivors, but utter catastrophe not only in these attack sites, but also throughout the world as they see the surviving superpower of the 20th century get besieged by these disgraceful and violent terrorists. If you are a Christian, you can certainly call that the Judgment made because of the chaos that followed after these attacks triggered an enormous disaster and social apocalypse.
As I lied on the sofa, listening to more worse details about this unexpected and unprecedented tragedy, I shouted out in a rage against whoever was responsible for these attacks. The next few days involved us writing journals about what it was like to experience such events. There, I condemned Osama Bin Laden and his organization (al-Qaeda) for what they did to us. I admit that I supported George W. Bush for his bravery and intentions of wanting to go after this organization. That's what American Patriotism is all about. It was time to wake up and try to preserved the peace that supposedly existed after 1990.
May 1, 2011: 7:59 PM, to May 2, 2011: 11:39 AM-
It was 7:59 PM, the day I would normally return to my dorm quickly to watch The Amazing Race, as that would normally air around that time. Just as I got there, however, something peculiar and fascinating had happened. History has been set in stone... just now.
OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD.
That's the headline I saw immediately on CNN news when Bryan's TV was on, with Jessie, Mariam, and Ryan Chung all there to listen to this moment. Becky also came over to watch The Amazing Race, but she too, decided to watch this breaking news as well.
Blimey. I really said it, blimey. I was like, is this true? Did we really find him? I admit that I performed a very close scrutiny to make sure this news was for real since many other news that reported his "death" before today had been all, but a conspicuous deception.
As I listened on, I heard that this was confirmed reportedly by DNA testing and/or facial recognition techniques. From there on, I texted to pretty much all of my close Utah friends about this news, starting with Jeffrey. Actually, I can't believe that he hadn't known about this until I told him, since he always would find out about significant political (and international) news before I would. I'm glad I did let him and his family know about this, since this was a huge news he needed to hear for sure. After all, why not let a best friend know about this too?
Besides Jeffrey, I remember I texted to Albert, David Evans, David Markewitz, Blake, Clare, Annicka, Tyson, Kevin, Nate Leung, Nate Odendahl, Anna, Grace, Sarah, Andy Cheng, Nino, and Daniel Kaplan about this historical moment and their opinions about it. I admit, I am jealous of David Markewitz, since he was there in Washington DC at the White House when this happened. If you know him, look on his Facebook profile for his pictures of him being there to witness and celebrate history with other GWU students and DC people. I guess it was the right decision for him to attend George Washington University in the first place!
I saw from CNN images of American having patriotic celebrations in New York as well, especially at Ground Zero and Times Square. I admit, I wish I were in any of those places to celebrate.
I also wrote my Facebook status about this, and blimey, I think the whole site was going ruckus for hours just because of this headline. I was going to do my homework and watch The Amazing Race directly after dinner, but I ended up staying on Facebook for 4 hours, reading LA Times, NY Times, and other news about all the details about this story. Luckily, I was still able to do the homework I had to do and finish it. I later watched The Amazing Race online the next day.
I admit, every one of my UCLA friends were going crazy and celebratory about this remarkable news.
Unfortunately, though, I did have a fallout with one of my Facebook friends from just this political moment. Parissa Azar, one of my Brighton friends (formerly I shall say-both officially and on Facebook), just de-friended me after I posted my status about my happiness at his demise. I was insulted when she commented that he was nothing but a scapegoat. What a typical supporter she was. When I looked on her profile to see if her wall was open and that she had said her opinions on this historic event, is when I found out that she was Facebook purging nearly everyone who celebrated and supported Osama's death, directly after expressing her condemnation of the Americans for their involvement in the War on Terror. Come on, it wasn't our idea to go in the war in the first place! What an idiot she just became from just this moment. Sure, she's not un-American, but she's a pseudo-American from just saying that she hates this nation today. Where was her American pride all of a sudden?
You ask me what my thoughts were from this event? There were tons of reasons why I am elated (and relieved) from this news. One, one of my fun field trips I could've gone to was cancelled because of his implemented attacks. Two, he has done so many wrongdoings to the entire global society. He was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, 9/11 (obviously), 1998 US embassy bombings, and the spread of radical Islam via al-Qaeda beliefs that caused more trouble (in a negative sense) than it was worth to worldwide peace. Not to mention, he didn't just indirectly kill 3,000 people from just the 9/11 attacks, he killed thousands more innocent lives (including even moderate Muslims) from other events including bombings! I know it looks like we had no right to kill anyone, including criminals. But, we had to either capture him, or kill him to make the world safe for democracy in the words of 28th US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Ever heard of that saying before? In addition, ever heard of the quote, "The license to kill?"
Finally, with Osama's death, the balance is shifted within al-Qaeda. I know the War on Terror will continue even with this event, but this is a significant progress in our quest to preserve freedom for all. After all, al-Qaeda was not Islam, it was radical Islam. Like what George W. Bush and Barack Obama said, War on Terror was not to fight against Islam in the first place.
Speaking of which, Obama made the best speech he has done in his presidency. I'm glad he made key points including the one I said in the preceding paragraph. He didn't celebrate the victory, of course. He instead explained the real meaning of Osama's death by connecting this with a tribute to the fallen and the victims of 9/11 attacks. That is what a true leader does. That is what a Nobel Peace Prize winner does. This is a credential Barack can never share with anyone else. This speech reminds us that he truly did deserve the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Barack Obama, you officially regained all the support that I lost with your success of finding Osama Bin Laden with a well-coordinated plan, as well as from your speech. I hope you will win the 2012 US Presidential election a year from now.
Give props to the George W. Bush administration as well. I may not like the 2005-2009 administration, but the 2001-2005 administration is the one that established the goals of War on Terror and went for attacking al-Qaeda as a retaliation against Terrorism. Bush was able to unite everyone in the world together in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. This is what a true American patriotism is.
After today, I shall say this, in the name of the victims of the 9/11 attacks: LONG LIVE AMERICA.
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