25 YEARS AGO TODAY, TERROR STRUCK THE UNITED STATES
Knoxville, Tennessee
(JFK+50 Editorial) JFK+50 honors the memory of those who died in the
terrorist attacks on the United States 25 years ago today. May we never
forget their sacrifice & the lessons learned from one of
the most horrific days of our history.
On
November 22, 1963, I was sitting in my high school social studies class
as a student when the principal came over the intercom to announce that
President Kennedy had been shot.
On
September 11, 2001, I was sitting in my high school social studies
class as a teacher when the principal's secretary came over the intercom
to say that I might want to turn on the television.
The events on both these dates changed America & the world.
As
a teacher of United States history, I always tried to bring the subject
to "life" rather than to approach it as something "past". In that
spirit, if something of national or global significance occurred, I
would not hesitate to include that in my lessons. On that day, the present became the lesson.
So
following the secretary's suggestion, we turned on the classroom television. We watched. We listened.
Together we were experiencing history in the making, trying to
understand what we were seeing & hearing & yet not
understanding.
When
I was a student in 1963, we didn't have a TV in the classroom, but the
principal put the radio broadcast on the intercom so we listened to the
drama unfolding in Dallas, Texas. We listened. Together we were
experiencing history in the making, trying to understand what we were
hearing & yet not understanding.
I
will never forget that day in November 1963 & I'm sure my students
will not forget September 11, 2001. (Those students would be 42 years old today).
JFK+50
On the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, our blog published this memorial tribute. We publish it again today on the 25th anniversary.
In watching a National Geographic Special today on the event, they interviewed Sheila Moody, a survivor of the attack on the Pentagon, Sept 11, 2001.
Ms. Moody, an accountant with the Department of Defense, was at her desk in the Pentagon when the airplane struck. Although badly burned and unable to see for the smoke, she was rescued. As she was brought outside, she saw the beautiful blue sky and said...
"You wonder how much evil could happen on such a beautiful day."
SOURCES
"10 Years Ago Today, Terror Struck the United States," JFK+50, September 11, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
"Remembering 9/11: 25 Years Later," Documentary MEGA Episode Special, National Geographic, 2026.
