My Memory of September 11

Bedford, Virginia -- September 11, 2001, was like any other normal day for me. I was a sophomore at Liberty High School, and I was only concerned with getting to school early enough to chat with all my friends.

At this time, my mom drove both me and my brother to the same school, before she went to work. My brother, being the procrastinator that he is, was sluggish about leaving his room, coming downstairs, and getting out the door for school. I proceeded to open his door, and at this point, I was willing to drag him out by his ear, as I hate being late. He told me to "get the hell out of his room," and slammed the door rather hard. A few quick moments later, I looked down, and saw that he had slammed the door on my finger. I was in pain, with my nail hanging on by a thread of flesh, but was still determined to go to school. I wrapped up my finger and announced to my mom that I was ready to go. She told me I wasn't going anywhere. Pissed off, I went back to bed.

When I woke up, I turned on the television in my room, hoping to catch "The Price is Right," one of my favorite shows to watch when I was off from school. However, what I saw was far from the popular game show. Every channel had canceled their shows, to give the breaking news-- two planes had flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. A third had proceeded to attack the Pentagon. I panicked, and didn't know what to say or do. All I could think was, "Is this the end of the world?"

Days, weeks, months, and even a couple of years after the attack, I was adamant about getting back at the terrorists. When Bush decided we were going to declare war, I was all for it. Back then, I was naive, and didn't think about the repercussions of things like war. However, my country was attacked, and I was seeing red, and all I could think about was sweet revenge.

As we approach the eight anniversary of the attack, I have come a long way. We've been in this "war," for coming up on seven years. I have had countless friends who have been on a tour of Iraq as much as three times. Sure, "ding, dong, Saddam is dead," but in my opinion, this war should be over. We're not accomplishing anything but babysitting Iraq, holding their hand as they half-heartedly try to piece back together, what our country tore apart. It has cost money (sending America into a black hole of debt,) and it has cost lives on both ends, yet not much has been accomplished.

I don't feel any safer than what I did back then. I don't feel like anything's changed at all. Also, I feel badly for the civilians who have lost their lives over in Iraq, just as much as I feel badly for the families of our fallen soldiers here. This war has gone on long enough, and I no longer support it.

In closing, I think that the Ghandi quote fits-- "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

When will we stop blinding one another?