September 11: Remembering From a Journalist's Perspective

It didn't really hit me until today.
After 10 years, it is hard for me to remember 9/11 once again and still feel the same emotion I have in years past. Unfortunately, I have almost become numb to the event and all the lives lost- yesterday just another day for me, as I was personally unaffected by the events.

But today in class, we looked at a slideshow of front pages from newspapers on September 12, 2001. And the horror and devastation was suddenly so much more real to me. Since I was a naive third grader when the attacks happened, I guess I never thought about it as hard as I should have. The headlines were horrible and tragic and made me feel for all of the families and medics and firemen that lost their lives. The images snapped by the photojournalists on that day are haunting and effective, and it reminded me just how powerful a picture can be.

My assignment today was to investigate how Charlotte, North Carolina commemorated 9/11, and what I found was very moving. Hundreds of firefighters, medics, and police officers participated in an honorary climbing of 110 flights of stairs to mimic the 110 floors of the twin towers. They each held a photo of the responder they were honoring, one of the 413 that died trying to get people out of the towers. Most firefighters climbed in full gear. I found the photo below the most moving out of the slideshow on the Charlotte Observer's website.
May we always remember not the headlines, but the people affected by 9/11 and the strength our nation displayed as we stood tall in the face of terrorism.