Most College Freshmen Can't Remember 9-11

For the most part, college freshmen cannot remember the events of 9-11. They were five or six years old. For the first time as a professor, I'm remembering for them. Only a few--the ones who lived in Manhattan--remember any vivid details. Most remember being picked up from kindgergarten and adults gathered around the television all day, but they don't remember what it meant. They felt fear and confusion, but mostly, the day doesn't register in their minds.

They ask me what that day meant for me. I tell them, moment by moment, my memories of that clear, blue morning and how we were all changed forever. 

They grew up in this new world without having felt the America beforehand. 

So I remember for them. For the first time, I feel the weight of it and the burden of responsibility: We must remember for them. 

-- 
Dr. Heather Holleman
Department of English
The Pennsylvania State University 
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