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(The following essays were written in December 2001 by students attending El Camino Academy in Bogotá, Colombia. I appreciate their field perspective on the events of 9/11.)
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I felt moved in every sense by the tragedy that affected the entire world. I experienced a mixture of sadness, shock, surprise, and horror. It was so mind-boggling to think that the most secure country in this world had been attacked and strongly impacted. It was and still is a strange thought to grasp. The fact that I am probably safer in guerrilla-infested Colombia than in the "Land of Freedom." I cannot come to understand how humanity can be so immensely corrupt that people can kill their own species in such quantity without a twinge of guilt. I felt so saddened by this event, not only because of the loss of life, but because I realized that there seriously is no hope for this world. People are so bitter and angry that love no longer has much meaning. God is the only solution to the chaos that exists right now. Because of this I decided to seek God in a more intense way by fasting and praying. Through this I could feel like I had some influence on the world because one feels so helpless in these times of great need. God revealed many personal issues and also softened my heart towards humanity. I cannot say that this experience of seeing the world come to end in such a horrid manner has been easy, but I do feel relieved to know that somehow God is still in control and is working in some peoples lives through this. I have matured in my knowledge of world events because I actually want to see the news at night. I am feeling the reality of the world events and it is not a mere fantasy that leaves my life untouched. I think that the only way to handle this situation is with an attitude of prayer, because God is truly the only one who has a grasp on this life.
Tandi
My father once told me that there was one thing that he remembered in his childhood that he would never forget. It was when President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember severally years ago he told me all the details. Where he was, who told him, and what he then did. I could not understand what this really meant and why he could never forget it.
September 11, 2001 started off a day like any other, but now remains permanently engraved in my memory. I will never forget where I was and what I was doing when I was informed that a crisis was developing.
After a relatively normal English class that Tuesday morning, our HS history class began. The school director interrupted the beginning of class. Immediately we knew that something was wrong. At first I thought something big had happened in Colombia. However, I was wrong, she informed us that an airplane had hit one of the towers of the world trade center, and that 15 minutes later the second tower had been hit. Now, she said, one of the towers had collapsed and the second was about to. I was immediately excused from class. The entire secondary crowded around a television set and looked on in dismay. The images we saw look like those of some kind of action thriller, not real life. There were conflicting reports. At first they were very dire, the local news networks are
often inaccurate and frequently pessimistic also. At first they
said about 100,000 were feared dead in the trade center complex. Those figures were mind-boggling. While the teachers tried to maintain the schedule, it was decided that the last 10 minutes of every class would be spent watching to TV for anything new. The time in class was spent talking about what had happened. At the end of the day, when all was said and done, I felt fearful of what more could happen.
Wednesday, nothing happened. All the students had trouble concentrating in class but nothing more happened. At that point I realize how proud I was to be American. There were many editorials written in the subsequent days, and I enjoyed the ones on American patriotism. The one that touched me the most was, "Well, you hit the world trade center but you missed America. You hit the pentagon but you missed America. You used helpless American bodies to take out other helpless American bodies but like a poor marksman you still missed America." I am proud to be an American, and it makes me feel wonderful that now America is banding together to fight this evil.
A.J.
On September 11th a great tragedy occurred. Four planes were hijacked by then unknown terrorists and three of them were flown, on kamikaze missions, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The fourth plane was crashed into the ground near Pittsburgh, PA. It is believed that the passengers or pilots regained control long enough to stop it from continuing its journey to a target in Washington. By the day’s end, President Bush was promising retaliation and a world war on terrorism.
Just about every country worldwide joined the US in its condemnation of the attack and pledged their support.
I live in Bogotá, Colombia, South America and I am a senior at a missionary kid school. Even though there are many different nationalities and backgrounds, the majority of my classmates consider the US their home. The news came to us in our US History class. We had no teacher in the room at the time. The principal of the school walked in. She announced that the two planes had crashed. Our first thought, living in a country that has been in civil war for the past 30 years , was “Is this close enough to Bogotá for the school to dismiss early?”
(Which has happened
here before.) But then she continued and informed us that the World Trade Center had collapsed, killing many. At break we set up a TV in one of the rooms to watch the news. A friend and I went to the computer room to look at CNN.com, because we did not completely trust the Colombian TV and our translation of it. For the rest of the day it was the only topic of conversation in any class. In the days that followed we had many class discussions about the US policy toward Afghanistan. I personally believe that the US is justified in their search for justice. I am glad that they recognize that the Taliban is responsible for hiding Bin Laden and not the common people of Afghanistan. One day on the way to school we had a family discussion about our response as Christians. We concluded that this conflict is basically between two religions, or belief in two different gods. As Christians we know the one and only true God and have a personal relationship with Him. Then as a solution my dad brought up a story in the Bible about a conflict between the god Baal, who the Israelites were worshiping, and the true God. The prophet at the time was Elijah. He proposed a “tournament” between God and Baal. In that story they put bulls on the altar for the sacrifice. In the case of Israel, the bull represented their sins. The god who answered was the one who could forgive or take away the sins. In present times, a bull is not relevant, so Christians today must have something else to offer in this show of power. I believe that it must be whatever is holding us back from serving God whole-heartedly. But if we live all out for God then more and more people will be convinced that we are not hypocrites that condemn everyone in public and practice those same acts in private. In conclusion I believe that the solution of capturing and punishing Osama bin Laden will only be temporary. The lasting solution will be showing the true love of God to the Islamic people. We were called to love everyone, even our enemies. This means loving the person and hating their sin.
Nathan
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