By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — It’s been almost 10 years since the nation watched in horror the events of September 11, 2001 unfold. Upper-level students of the Caribou High School were just 7, 8 and 9 years olds when terrorists attacked the country, but they remember where they were when the Twin Towers fell, the Pentagon burned, and recall when Flight 93 went down in Pennsylvania. Now, they will never forget where they were the first time they learned that U.S forces had brought justice to the terrorist leader.
“In my life, I remember J.F.K’s assassination — I was in first grade — I remember the attempted assassination on President Regan and the events of 9/11 very specifically,” said history teacher at the Caribou High School Kenneth Atcheson. “For many of [the current CHS students], this is one of perhaps two events that they remember and will remember where they were when they first heard it.”
This is true of Caleb Chapman, a junior at CHS.
He was watching the Philadelphia Philly’s game around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday evening. President Obama made the official announcement that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin was dead just an hour later.
“As I was watching the game, the crowd started chanting ‘U.S.A.’ around the ballpark,” Chapman said. Instead of going to a commercial break, the announcers told viewers that Osama bin Ladin had been killed and, at that point, Chapman realized why the crowd was chanting.
“I felt overjoyed almost — it’s been nine years of trying to find him and I feel that it was a great way to unite our county in the rough period that we’re in right now,” he said, adding that what he saw on his television set displayed a great sense of national unity.
Chapman was in second grade at Hilltop Elementary School when the nation was attacked on Sept. 11 and he didn’t know what had happened until he went home that evening. Chapman remembers noticing some of the teachers talking about something going on, but they weren’t allowed to tell the students. Later that evening, when Chapman finally found out what had happened, he remembers thinking it was a scary moment.
“I didn’t realize the significance of it until I was older and watched the film of the two towers falling, but I can remember feeling frightened as a young kid,” he said.
Chapman and his fellow Advanced Placement students of Atcheson’s U.S. history course had the opportunity to discuss the death of Osama bin Ladin in class on Monday.
Atcheson engaged the students in discussion about when they found out and what they thought.
“Many were happy that justice was done,” Atcheson said, mentioning that some were concerned about terrorists possibly retaliating.
They may have been young students on Sept. 11, 2001, but Atcheson believes they truly understand the significance of the terrorist leader’s death.
On Monday, Sen. Olympia Snow released the following statement.
“We are all a different people in America as a result of the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, that are etched upon the landscape of our consciousness for all time. Out of the rubble on September 11th rose our resolve, out of despair grew our determination, and out of the hate that was perpetrated upon us proudly stood our humanity. We illustrated in word and deed that the iconic American spirit is stronger and more permanent than any pain or suffering that can be inflicted upon us. If the likes of Osama bin Laden laid bare the unimaginable cruelties of which humankind is capable, it also imbued forever within our minds the heights to which the human spirit can rise – even and especially in the face of mortality.
“The resilience we recaptured as a country remains pressed upon our national psyche and the memory of the inspirational sacrifices of so many heroic Americans who perished that September morning will forever have a home in our hearts and our prayers – as will all whose lives were tragically cut short by the hands of such ruthlessness.
“I think about all of the soldiers who willingly joined the military specifically to fight because of what happened on 9-11, and the sacrifices of their families and the lives that have been lost. Indeed, we are forever grateful to the brave men and women of our armed forces and intelligence community who have laid their own lives on the line to keep our homeland safe and secure. Without their valiant efforts and unwavering dedication, this momentous moment in our nation’s history would not have been possible.”
