I'm sure there are a million posts today about September 11. However, I feel like adding my own thoughts about this day.
I was eight, almost nine-years-old when the twin towers fell. My mom got me out of bed late for school because she was watching the news, like millions of other people across the nation and around the world. I remember not understanding what was happening, I was so little. But then I watched the second airplane fly into the building and I understood that people were dying. I asked my mom what was falling out of the windows and she replied, "People."
Even though this event happened across the country, it feels as if it happened right in my backyard. My country is so united that something like this affects all of us. I love that we stand together, political views, religious views, and other differences don't matter for those moments. We truly became The United States of America that day.
Today, at my university, we had a guest speaker come talk to us. His name is Joe Torrillo, who was a firefighter September 11, 2001. He told his incredible story and it is something I will never forget.
That day, he was supposed to be at a conference to introduce a new toy to the world: A New York firefighter action figure. On his way, he saw the building burn and he made the decision to go to the fire house instead of his conference. He didn't have his fire gear so he used another firefighter's gear who was off duty that day.
Because he went to school and learned about engineering, he knew that the building would soon collapse and his main goal was to get as many people out of the building as possible. Then the South Tower started collapsing. He said the air pressure began to build and it made his helmet fly off his head and fly in front of him. The pressure began to build even more and he was lifted off the ground.
A steel beam hit him in the back of his head, breaking his skull. He also had a broken arm and ribs. He continued to say that everything went completely black, "Blacker than midnight."
In the dark, he heard people yelling "Help me, help me" and then the yells turned to whimpers and then silence. He realized that the people around him had died.
What stood out to me most at this point was he said he didn't want to die bitter. He prayed to God and said he wouldn't have wanted a different job, he was glad for what he had been given. He didn't say, why me? but he was grateful for what he had been given and asked that his family would be alright.
Later, they uncovered him and put him on the boat. While on the deck, the North Tower collapsed. People on the boat abandoned the boat because of the glass flying through the air. Joe Torrillo got himself off the stretcher and into the Engine Room of the boat where he was buried a second time, later to be found again.
Because he had borrowed someone else's gear, the people at the hospital thought he was a different man. Calls were made to Joe Torrillo's family, telling them he was missing.
At the end of his speech, he told us that education will be the most important thing we ever get in our lives. It can't be stolen or borrowed and because of his education, he knew the towers would fall and was able to save hundreds of lives that day.
Today I learned that even in our darkest moments, we can find things to to be grateful for. During hard times, we don't have to ask God why it happened to you but we can be grateful for what we have been given. And you don't have to wear a uniform to be a hero.
September 11 was such a horrible day but I hope we can remember how we were united and always stand together, one Nation, under God.
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