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City, campus remember 9/11

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, claimed nearly 3,000 lives and changed America in ways that still have yet to be understood. In the 10 years since, citizens honor the lives lost. | Wikimedia Commons

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, claimed nearly 3,000 lives and changed America in ways that still have yet to be understood. In the 10 years since, citizens honor the lives lost. | Wikimedia Commons

What do you remember?

“I was in 4th grade and in English class. At first we weren’t told directly, but students started leaving, and then teachers finally told us that there was an attack in New York. At the time I wasn’t really scared, but confused… It changed everything, and not really for the good. It changed airport security and people’s views on others, especially Muslims. People started categorizing all of them as extremists.” – Albert Mendez

“I was 12 (and) in 7th grade… the teacher turned on the television and showed us the news… I wondered if this was something horrible that happened a long time ago or in some other country, until Ms. Pearson explained to us that it just happened that morning in New York… There were several horrific clips being played over and over again of the towers falling and people jumping to their deaths… Several days later, the song ‘Hero’ by Enrique Iglesias aired on the radio with news clips from the attack edited into it. When I heard it, I finally cried because the gravity of the event hit me.” — Lindsey Slavin

“I was in 3rd grade, and my teacher actually put it on TV. We saw everything as it was happening, like when the second plane hit…we had no idea what was going on, why the planes were hitting it, if it was an accident. We just couldn’t believe it. No one knew how to react. We didn’t know what that meant.” — Vanessa Alejandro

“I was in 5th grade, I think. 5th grade math class, and my teacher turned on the TV, that’s how I saw it. As a 5th grader, I didn’t realize that it was actually happening to people. It didn’t really register that people were dying right in front of my eyes. It was really weird getting home, and I remember laughing that people were jumping out of buildings, and then my mom getting super mad at me, because again… That was when I realized ‘oh my god, I’m watching death right now.’” — Joseph Okoh

Houstonians gathered Friday evening at Discovery Green Park to remember the events of 9/11 in honor of the tragedy’s 10th anniversary.

The program, presented by Dignity Memorial, featured commemorations by local faith leaders as well as the Houston Grand Opera, and closed with the city’s premiere of the documentary “REBIRTH.”

Various emergency responders were recognized, including the Houston Police and Fire Departments.

Houston Police Chief Charles Mclelland said that while the terrorists may have altered our country’s thought process concerning our security, they “failed miserably” at changing the way we live and the freedoms we enjoy.

“They united Americans in a way that only Americans can unite,” he said. “Because of the heroes that wear uniforms, foreign and domestic, they will never win and conquer our spirit and our resolve.”

Houston Fire Department Chief Terry Garrison expressed his pride in the HFD, the third largest fire department in the nation.

“The Houston Fire Department is the greatest fire department in the country,” he said. “I am so proud to represent them.”

Garrison said that the responders on planes, at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon that morning all showed incredible bravery.

“They went in without hesitation, even though there was a great amount of risk,” he said.

Houston residents attending the memorial event came to show their support for different reasons.

Cory Meals, a graduate assistant with the band program at UH, attended the event with his wife to support a friend’s vocal talent as he performed “Pieces of 9/11 – Memories from Houston” with the Houston Grand Opera.

“The treatments musically that have come out of this 10th anniversary are incredibly different from what happened on the first anniversary,” said Meals.

The musical arrangement, written by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, was created to honor and pay tribute to all victims and responders, and includes pieces of interviews with Houstonians who were affected by the events.

Meals compares the HGO piece to “On the Transmigration of Souls” by John Adams, written to honor the first anniversary of 9/11, which he said was designed as both a coping mechanism and a plea for peace.

“This is an important occasion, an important anniversary; something that is important, that it’s remembered and celebrated, as we do by creating works to honor its memory,” said Meals.

Among the crowd were other Houston residents with a different perspective on the 10th anniversary memorial.

Colleen Kimball and her 12-year-old daughter, Eva Schneller, were living in New York City the day the towers were hit.

Kimball, who worked about ten blocks from the towers, said she wanted to attend the memorial with her daughter because she liked the idea of something positive, such as the rebuilding of the WTC site on “REBIRTH.”

“REBIRTH,” a documentary by Project Rebirth, tracks five different Americans directly affected by the tragedy from early 2002 through 2009. The film features a time-lapse photography sequence of Ground Zero being rebuilt.

Every year during this time Kimball said she remembers how it felt to be in the midst of the chaos.

“I picture all of it and I just see that plane sticking out of the building,” she said.

“I went through a really rough time, because you really weren’t sure if the whole island was going to blow up at any moment.”

Eva, then 2 years old, should have been in the WTC day care, but had switched to a new facility after her father had been laid off two weeks prior.

“Her first day at her new day care was Sept. 11, so it was really weird,” said Kimball, recalling that the children in the WTC day care were evacuated in time.

Although Eva does not remember much, Kimball recalls Eva having nightmares about planes and fires. She said she eventually realized it was probably from repeated exposure to the images after keeping the news on most of the following days.

As many Americans recall of that tragic Tuesday morning, Kimball said that everyone around her united under the circumstances.

“The terror they wanted to create was there,” she said. “But, everybody… without saying, kind of decided to stick around.”

3 Comments

  • I find it extremely insensitive that you used that image for this article. When so many people have suffered since that day, why would you use that image? Why not use an image of the new incredible memorial? Or the faces of those who were lost, or the faces of those who are fighting for us? An image of the American flag? You wouldn't use an image of you're mother's wrecked car (god forbid) if she was taken away from you in an accident would you? This is ridiculous, shameful, and selfish.
    I am asking for a printed apology for the use of that image as soon as possible on the cover of the Daily Cougar, to all that have been offended.

  • The picture used was insensitive and inappropriate. It is against the codes of journalism. An American flag would have been more appropriate.

    This is the violation of the code.

    Harm limitation principle
    -Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.

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