Freedom in America is like the fireworks on the Fourth of July. It’s synonymous with the fundamentals that America has been built on, and continues to demonstrate to this day.

Since 9/11, that feeling of freedom still reigns strong but in a much more dimmed light after the tragic events. Close to 3,000 people were killed in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and 40 in Pennsylvania (where one of the hijacked planes crashed to the ground after the passengers attempted to retake the plane). All 19 al-Qaeda terrorists died (the terrorist group responsible for 9/11).

Every citizen in America has been affected by 9/11, even if they were born after 2001. Airlines became impossibly more strict. Everything is measured or weighed, no luggage over 70 lbs, and no liquid over 3ml. No guns or metal on the body.

All of this in the hopes that ‘never again’ really means ‘never again.’ Before 9/11, airlines were much more lenient, there wasn’t much stress on how much your luggage weighed, and there was no voice in the back of your head wondering if your plane is the next to be compromised. 

“I don’t think anyone realized what was going on, or how big it was,” social studies teacher Mr. Walterbach said. “I was doing my observation hours at an elementary school with some other people from my college, they pulled the whole school into the gym and put the news on.”

Everyone that was born before 9/11 will most likely have a story on where they were. It’s often described as a moment that you’ll remember forever.

“It changed everyone’s world forever,” family consumer science teacher Mrs. Langston said. 

Time took a pause and started mourning not only the people lost, but the safety and comfort that was lost on 9/11 as well. Many countries would have split into chaos in a time of uncertainty, but America bonded. Americans everywhere joined together and became one.

“I felt a stronger sense of patriotism,” Walterbach said. During a dark time, America was the light and fireworks of hope. Instead of falling apart, we became stronger together. 

Now in New York, there is the Freedom Tower named in memoriam after the tragic events of 9/11. There is a Twin Towers-sized grave for the buildings that fell, with inscriptions of all the names of those lost during 9/11.

Where there once was a bustling spot in New York City, there is now silence where the World Trade Center once stood.

There were close to 3,000 innocent victims and heroes lost on Sept. 11, 2001. And the silence where the world trade center once was will echo through every generation of Americans, through every September breeze that reminds you of the freedom ringing and the sorrow singing.

That is why we will never forget.