Reflecting on Sept. 11, how far we’ve come

TIFFANY FITZPATRICK
The Signal
On the eve of the 12-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, President Obama addressed the nation about the possibility of a military strike on Syria. Starting at 9 p.m., it was almost exactly 12 hours before the anniversary of the crash into the first tower.

Those who were old enough to hear of the attacks as they happened are unlikely to forget the multitude of emotions and the feeling of true national panic.

If I remember nothing else from that year, I will always remember how it felt to be 14 years old, sitting in a high school art room, glued to the sounds coming through an FM radio. I was hearing sounds of terror and bloodshed for the first time in my life, and I was surrounded by hundreds in the same position.

There were people in tears, people lost in a state of confusion, and people concerned primarily with finishing their assignment. Nobody knew yet exactly how serious it was. Nobody expected how serious the next decade would be.

The buildings full of people at a loss for words, shocked to the point of being momentarily void of all emotions, weren’t just the high schools. They were offices, department stores and homes.

We remember that day.

Innocent lives being taken by such a heartless, preventable attack is something that hits very close to home. We’ve felt the anger and pain. We’ve watched helpless as our friends, families and heroes were taken quickly by an act of terrorism.

When President Obama called for quick action after the attacks in Syria, the American voices loudly reminded ourselves and our president that a reactionary military strike would solve nothing.

In his address, President Obama defended his original position, his instinct to react, and then he did something this nation hasn’t seen in a very long time.

He listened.

He told us he was asking Congress to postpone voting while a diplomatic path was pursued. He said he would wait on the results of a U.N. inspection.

He held firm to his original plan and stated he would keep the military in place to respond but only if a diplomatic resolution failed.

After weeks of announcing a firm resolve to punish the Assad government for the attacks, the American president stood in front of the nation and changed his mind.

When we remember the events of the past 12 years, it is important to acknowledge how far we’ve come to have a leader who can step back and reconsider.