Mark Howard | Opinions Editor

And then they began to Jump!
I will never forget the images on my 27-inch Zenith television screen as I watched American people spear from the sky tops of New York City buildings.

The horrific tragedy of September 11th 2001 taught me the true sentiments of what being an American meant.
As I watched people make conscious decisions to jump from 200 levels up I cringed as I imagined the frightful scenes these American were witnessing unfold in front of them.
I had images in my head that hadn’t full developed but were frightfully unsettling even in my immaturity.

I imagined entire offices burning.

Then I imagined people Burning. Average American people: friends, co-workers and carpoolers all burning in front of their eyes.

I imagine the smells of gas and char and flesh burning.

I imagined people crying and fighting for window space to breath as gas and smoke filled the air. And then they began to jump.

As one man fell I held my breathe; and then another, and then another, and then several, until I couldn’t watch.

I couldn’t watch and I couldn’t believe what was happening.

I could only call upon my god as I know so many millions of other American’s did as well. “Oh my God” followed by gasps of disbelief and tears.

“Oh my God.” As cable’s news networks broadcasted live the seemingly third world chaos unfolding in the city of New York, New York State.
As I write, I recall having this exact feeling of an ache in the left side of my brain and a stab in my heart while considering the entirety of this days tragedy.

It is still so disturbing to think back to those images and imagine those people’s conversations to their families, husbands, wives and even kids.

This was such a terribly tragic day and its really taken 12 years for it to set in with me what I seen happen that day and what it did to me and my country.

I am a young African American  man and I feel my countries sorrow, pain, and reverence to that day in its full.

We are still reliving that day in our minds and memories and we will never forget what we’ve seen, we’ve felt and we’ve been through. We are still fighting the effects of 9/11.

We are still healing but we are still ailing.

This is such a painful day and anniversary to commemorate but I will never forget unifying sorrow I felt as an American citizen.

I will never let it go unaddressed. And I will simply never forget 9/11.