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Remembering 9/11: A Remarkable Moment

The ceremony included the honor guards from the Lowell Fire Department and UMass Lowell Air Force ROTC Detachment 345. (Photo courtesy of UMass Lowell)

Jacob Solomon
UML Student

Friday morning, I attended the 15th Annual 9/11 Remembrance on East Campus. A seating arrangement had been set up under a tent, in front of the memorial titled “Unity,” a work commissioned by UMass Lowell and the Student Government Association in 2004.

I found myself at this event because I wished to better understand the significance of our nation’s annual tradition of solemn remembrance at this time of year. I remember sitting in my second grade classroom, having just turned seven years old, when my teacher received news that she didn’t know how to explain to our class; it was the first time I can recall seeing an adult completely at a loss for how to act, and I did not understand. I remember coming home from school that day to my parents who, like everyone, it seemed, wanted to talk to me about something horrible that had happened, but didn’t know how. I would say that it took years for me to understand what they and my teacher wanted to explain to me, but as the gravity of our tradition sinks in a little deeper each year, I feel that there is still more I must learn.

So, I looked forward to this event, where I hoped to hear speakers bring clarity to this mystery, now that the nation’s wound has become a scar and my capacity to understand it has grown. I wondered what words would be spoken under that tent, as I approached, that could stamp a clear explanation over my foggy but potent memory, and finally wipe away my unceasing questions.

I heard no such words. The speakers gave the condolences, respect, hope, and wisdom that they had to offer, and the words sounded so strangely similar to those I had heard during September of the past 15 years, though I strained to hear more meaning in them this time. I wondered how anyone could possibly arrange or deliver a speech that could help me to fully appreciate this commemoration, and deeply admired the speakers for attempting this near-impossible yet critical task.

During the speeches, the response to an emergency call could be heard across the river. Sirens echoed as the pastor spoke to the valiance of the first responders. I heard the sturdiness of this spiritual leader’s voice, and the quavering of the students’ who subsequently read off the names of members of the “UMass Lowell family” who had been lost on that day. I felt the immense weight of the audience’s compassion. Though my questions about the tragedy itself remained unanswered, I sensed the unity and strength that followed.

As one speaker mentioned, students in Lowell High School just a few blocks away would be learning about the terrorist attack of September 11th as a historic event from before their time. I remembered how I felt visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. just two weeks ago, trying my best to understand a war around which many people’s lives were shaped—a war that has only existed in my generation’s mind as a story told by our parents and their parents. Though I can only try my best to give personal meaning to a tragedy that can feel so impossible to grasp, that morning I witnessed a remarkable manifestation of our nation’s honor.

Jacob Solomon is a junior majoring in mathematics and English.

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