According to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, an estimated 100 million people have been born in the United States since the terrorist attacks on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.
Nearly one-third of the present-day population of this country were not alive on 9/11 or either were too young to remember the events firsthand.
Those of us old enough to be stunned by the news and the devastating images that flashed on our television screens recall the horror and uncertainty.
Cellular telephones in this country at that time were relatively basic talk and text devices. Mobile networks were so slow that they were quickly overwhelmed by the amount of call traffic. There was no such thing as streaming video, and social media did not exist. To put it into context, 9/11 occurred a few years before MySpace, Facebook and Twitter were even born, and a full 16 years before the U.S. launch of TikTok.
Personal computer users could access some video, but they were limited by slow dial-up speeds, tiny video frames and frequent buffering.
Information did not flow as freely then — for better or worse, since a lack of information is no worse and perhaps better than a raging stream of misinformation, as we see too often today.
The unknown always presents an opportunity for fear, and that was the result in a nutshell.
The front page of this newspaper, dated Sept. 13, 2001, included a photograph of a long line of cars waiting to purchase gasoline at a Charleston convenience store. Rumors were swirling, including that there would be a fuel shortage or that gas prices would skyrocket. No one knew what to expect.
In times of crisis and uncertainty, people often turn to their faith, and it was no different on that dark Tuesday 25 years ago.
On the night of 9/11, special services were held at a number of Tallahatchie County churches, and many people gathered to pray for their grieving and suffering fellow Americans, the nation’s leaders, and members of the military.
Excluding the hijackers, a total of 2,977 victims died and thousands more were injured in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Thousands more have since died from 9/11-related illnesses tied to rescue and recovery work.
The country was brought to its knees, literally and figuratively. Financial markets closed. Airplanes were grounded. Oil refineries closed.
In the end, America prevailed. We stood together then, perhaps, as we have not stood together since. The masterminds of 9/11, including Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist organization, were killed or brought to justice.
We are told we are safer, and we pray that is the case.
But what a terrible price we paid to get here, which is why we must never, ever forget 9/11.
