On September 11th, 2001, an al-Qaida terrorist attack took the lives of almost 3,000 American civilians. Now, 23 years later, presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump came together in New York City to commemorate the attack.
After a heated presidential debate the day before, the candidates visited the place where the two World Trade Center towers used to stand. Twenty-three years ago, the towers fell 17 minutes apart after each being hijacked by terrorists. Each tower had a plane full of innocent American passengers crash into it.
Thirty-four minutes after the World Trade Center was hit, the Pentagon was attacked by another hijacked airplane.
Terrorists again hijacked one last flight. The passengers ended up revolting and taking the plane back over. Heroically, the passengers crashed the plane into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, unaware of who the real target was supposed to be.
During these attacks, American citizens were just living their normal lives. At the time, current Arlington High School staff member Shawn Phaneuf had just moved out of New York when the tragedy occurred. His brother was a first responder who had to stay in the city for over a month helping search for people and clean up all the debris. Phaneuf said, “After finding out about the attack I was angry and confused. I was nervous for what the future of our country was going to look like.” With a brother in the heart of it all and new to the state of Tennessee, Phaneuf was worried sick about his family and the future of the United States of America. The terrorists took away American citizens feeling of safety and comfort within the United States.
This devastating event has taken a toll on American families since 2001. Every year the country comes together and remembers all the lives that were lost on that horrific day. This day is a sign of unity within our country from government officials to ordinary citizens.
While standing on the ground where the towers fell, despite all their problems, presidential candidates Trump and Harris shook hands to memorialize all the fallen. With the election in eight weeks, tensions were extremely high following the debate the day before. Both candidates travelled far to support the commemoration of this attack, even through the busy election season.
