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Emmalee Johnson

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 1010

2 March 2017

The Everyday Patriot

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, America as it has always been known, changed forever.

The way we travel, the way we celebrate, they way we shop and enjoy our free time, our

security, and even the fight for our highly treasured freedom.

It was a bright and crisp fall morning, people were just going about their normal routine,

the streets of New York City were just as busy as any other regular day, and most people did not

know what tragic event was going to take place, until it was right upon them. The time was 8:45

a.m. when tragedy struck, the American Airlines flight number 767 collided into the 80th floor of

the North building of the World Trade Center which was 110 stories tall, instantly killing

hundreds of people who were on the floor and surrounding floors, and trapping even more on the

floors above. People were confused, thinking that it was all a freak accident, that maybe the

plane had something wrong with it. Officials began the evacuation of both buildings

immediately. People watched and stared in disbelief at what had just happened.

Eighteen minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 veered towards the South

World Trade Center building and slammed into the 60th floor, creating an explosion, sending all

kinds of debris around the building. At this very moment was when America realized that these

two planes crashing into the countrys most iconic office buildings, was no accident, but on

purpose. America was under attack. Americans all over the country watched live as their home

was under attack and all they could do was sit and stare in disbelief, and for the first time ever,
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being absolutely powerless. Just forty-two short minutes later, another airplane dove into the

Pentagon military headquarters, which then exploded, causing part of the concrete building to

collapse, killing 125 men and women of the U.S. military and all 64 people on the plane. Then,

less than fifteen minutes after that, the events in New York City got even worse- the seemingly

invincible South Tower of the World Trade Center that, according to the HIstory Channel was

built to withstand winds in excess of 200 miles per hour and a large conventional fire collapsed

down on itself. About 15 painful minutes pass by, and as 10:30 rolls around, the North Tower

went crashing down. America sat in horror as they watched the lives of loved ones being stolen

from them by whom they soon found out were Islamic terrorists who had hijacked those planes,

working for the most wanted runaway, Osama Bin Laden. During the unexpected attack on the

east coast, there was another plane that had also been hijacked that was heading towards

Washington D.C. Passengers aboard United Flight 93 started hearing of what was going on in

both Washington and New York City, quickly found out that their plane had also been taken

control by the terrorists. A few of the passengers called their loved ones, and then took action

trying to take control of the plane themselves, risking their own lives to potentially save even

more. The plane was theorized to have been headed to the nations capitol or the White House,

but because of the heroic efforts of civilians aboard this flight, the terrorists were stopped, yet

they were unable to survive. In order to have a small victory, the only way out was to crash land,

and they did just that. Flipping the plane over and driving it into the ground at about 500 miles

per hour, killing all 45 passengers on board. The History Channel calculated the deaths and

injuries of that day:

Close to 3,000 people died in the World Trade Center and its

vicinity, including a staggering 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23

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New York City police officers who were struggling to complete the

an evacuation of the buildings and sae the office workers trapped

on higher floor. Only six people in the World Trade Center towers

at the time of their collapse survived. Almost 10,000 others were

treated for injuries, many severe. (History Channel, 9/11

Attacks)

When tragedy struck in America, citizens from all walks of life came together and

showed love for the country and for those who lived in it. Amidst all struggles and challenges

that may have gone on previously, we came together to lift each other and help all that we could

because of the love for our country, the country showed more patriotism than ever. The love

wasnt just for the looks and scenery, but for the freedoms and rights that were being fought for,

for what America was founded on. Nobody was afraid to show it, and everyone felt a little less

like a population and a little more like family. Naturally, as time passes, so do we, we become

forgetful- forgetting experiences, feelings and what unshaken pride that once belonged to the

citizens of the United States of America. America started to move onto new ideas and ways of

doing things, and forgetting what this nation was founded on, and it began to move further and

further apart. Why did it have to be life-taking tragedy to temporarily glue the country together?

Will it take another tragedy to bring it back together or is there another way to bring patriotism

back into the hearts and minds of Americans without the consequences of a tragedy? Patriotism

is not just something that should be seasonal or shown at certain times like a tragedy or a

holiday. Being a patriot and showing love for the country is something that needs to be shown

and represented all the time, being an American is not just a one time thing. Being an American

is something that citizens and others alike should take pride in and live in all year round.
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Patriotism

What is patriotism? First, what is not patriotism? Reed explains that patriotism is not

the love of the countrys scenery or products, although those can be some bonuses. Patriotism is

not blindly trusting in anything and everything the countrys leaders tell us to. It is not just

showing up to vote. Simply waving the American flag may be a sign of patriotism, but that is not

just it. Is there more to just waving a flag and stating I am an American to show that you are

patriotic? Reed says that it is loving and believing in the ideas of the founding fathers who

created America that is the meaning of patriotism, the ideas that compelled them put their

lives, fortunes, and sacred honor on the line. (Reed). The same ideas that still put lives on the

line, the lives of those today who fight for our freedoms everyday- and those people love their

Fig. 1. This picture of MTA workers assisting in search and rescue recovery efforts shows the amount of love civilians had for

their country and shows them even risking their lives to help others find theirs. (History Channel, 9/11 Attacks)

country.

Parenti goes into depth about what it really means to love ones country, loving

everything about it- the people, the ideals, traditions, history- or at least support them. It is

important that to truly come to love a home country, that first learning about the history of the
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country. The trials that the founding fathers went through to get to where America is today. The

new generations coming into the world have not been through experiences like world wars and

devastating terrorist attacks to feel the attack on a home. They are taught about history, yet the

terrible sides are not always shared, which doesnt give the full affect. They are not always

taught about all the horrible acts that went on in the lives of those of earlier generations, and not

being able to be fully engulfed in the history and truly appreciate the true country bonding time.

Which, as Parenti says is too bad. It would add more substance to their love of country.

(Parenti 1). Not everyone really understands what had to happen to get America as carefree as

it is today.

It often seems as though it takes a terrible tragedy to bring the country back together

again. Why is that? Is it because America realizes how free it is and does not want to

compromise that? Is it all pure selfishness or is it our genuine care for our freedoms and the care

for others? It is interesting because when something tragic happens, we Americans tend to set our

mindless bickering aside and focus on the issue at hand. Its as though those issues are not

even real issues at all, if all they result in is more tension between ourselves. Abraham Lincoln

once said, a country divided against itself cannot stand. Our society occasionally fills our time

with small problems that we argue over because we can, slowly - yet unintentionally - dividing

us. Li and Brewer bring up some points and ideas that could really help America become more

unified in all that it does. They bring up some thoughts about fulfilling the citizen role, how it is

not just living in America that makes you an American citizen, but what you do in America that

makes one a citizen. Unity comes from personal efforts, from getting involved and immersing

yourself into serving the country in anyway that you can, finding the love and reason to live in

America. In many ways, these can bring us together, without having to deal with the
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consequences of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. The feeling of love and unity do not just

come. They are learned traits, learning to love and support and work together through hard times.

We learn to love the history and heritage of our country. Our strong feelings of patriotism comes

in waves. They come around the American holidays like flag day, memorial day, independence

day, where we dress up and wear american flag shirts and have barbeques and parties and light

off fireworks and rejoice because we love America!. Getting involved is a great way to get

over the occasional urges to be patriotic and create the feeling of being a constant American

patriot. Has being an american gone out of fashion? Sometimes there are celebrities who can

make an action to prove some kind of point, to show that they are different or that have rights to,

rights to do whatever they want. Well, yes they do. We all do, but how are we going to harbor our

feelings of expressing ourselves without disrespecting the men and women who have fought, and

some died for the freedoms we have been blessed with today?

Works Cited
History.com Staff. 9/11 Attacks. History.com. A+E Networks, 2010. Web. 13 March 2017.

Katz, Claire. "The Eternal Irony of the Community": Prophecy, Patriotism, and the Dixie

Chicks." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, vol. 26, no. 4, Summer

2008, pp.

139-160. EBSCOhost. Web. 27 February 2017.

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Li, Qiong and Marilynn B. Brewer. "What Does It Mean to Be an American? Patriotism,

Nationalism, and American Identity After 9/11." Political Psychology, vol. 25, no. 5, Oct.

2004, pp. 727-739. EBSCOhost. Web. 27 February 2017.

McClay, Wilfred M. "The Mixed Nature of American Patriotism." Society, vol. 41, no. 1,

Nov/Dec2003, pp. 37-45. EBSCOhost . Web. 27 February 2017.

Mulloy, D. J. "Liberty or Death": Violence and the Rhetoric of Revolution in the American

Militia Movement." Canadian Review of American Studies, vol. 38, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp.

119-145. EBSCOhost. Web. 27. February 2017.

Parenti, Michael. "What Does It Mean to Love One's Country?." Peace Review, vol. 15, no. 4,

Dec. 2003, p. 1. EBSCOhost. Web. 27 February 2017

Straughn, Jeremy Brooke and Angie L. Andriot. "Education, Civic Patriotism, and Democratic

Citizenship: Unpacking the Education Effect on Political Involvement." Sociological

Forum, vol. 26, no. 3, Sept. 2011, pp. 556-580. EBSCOhost. Web. 27 February 2017.

Reed, Lawrence W. The True Meaning of Patriotism. American patriotism . June 2003.

Foundation for Economic Education. Web. 27 February, 2017.

White, John. "Noetic Patriotism and Global Society." Journal for Spiritual & Consciousness

Studies, vol. 39, no. 2, Nov. 2016, pp. 130-140. EBSCOhost. Web. 27 February 2017.
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