9/11, a terrorist attack that left 2,996 people dead and more than 1000 injured eighteen years ago, was remembered on the fourth Wednesday of the school year. The attack, which was organized by Osama Bin Laden, hit New York and the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001.

Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, believed that America had too much wealth and power. To hurt the US, al-Qaeda hijacked four planes which they purposefully crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.

The United States lost many innocent citizens but was able to find a sense of unity with people of every color, culture, and shape. “On 9-12, it didn’t matter if you liked Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi,” stated by Ms. Leuthold, principal, “It didn’t matter if you were brown or white. None of that stuff mattered. It didn’t matter if you were a Republican or a Democrat, you were just American.”

The United States can never get back the lives of the people they lost, but it is important we remember and honor their lives. Memorials were constructed to show their respect to those who risked their lives and unfortunately lost them. In New York, a memorial called The National September 11 Memorial and Museum was created. Inside includes remains of the Twin Towers, as well as a fire truck that was destroyed during the attack. The purpose of this was to display the horrific effects so that the event will never happen again. Located in Arlington County, Virginia, another memorial was formed and founded to honor those who were in flight 77 and others who died while crashing into the Pentagon.

Not only should we honor those who died, but the heroes who have risked their lives as well. “It is a day of heros as well,” Maya Franco, a freshman who was born on September 11, 2005, told a journalist at the Chronicle. When asked how we as a student body could use this event to make a safer future, she recommended “spreading positivity.”