Written by Lacey Francis, Susana Landaverde, Travis Webster, and Kevin Daly <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnfortunate\u2026 When I think back, I just think that it’s unfortunate that these individuals felt that they had to do something like that. But on the flip side of it\u2026 be proud. So proud to be an American\u201d said John Scanlon, a Homer police officer and SRO at the Homer elementary school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this year marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the tragic terrorist attack that occurred on that fateful day in 2001, it serves as a reminder for everyone to take a step back and remember this event that shook the nation. Many Americans remember 9\/11 as an accident not quite understanding the gravity of the situation until we were already too far in deep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter the first plane hit the North Tower there, it was kind of an interesting feeling because it didn’t really, I don’t think, resonate. I thought a lot of the first initial things that kind of came in were just potentially an accident\u201d Officer Scanlon said. \u201cAfter hearing the news that the second tower was hit shortly after the first, everyone knew then that this was no accident.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Americans all over the world feared what would happen next, scrambling to find their family and friends, tuning into TV programs to watch everything unfold in real time. The confusion of what was occurring turned into pure anxiety in an instant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe worst part was the unknown, I guess,\u201d said Officer Scanlon. \u201cNot knowing what was going to come next\u2026 It’s interesting. I even noticed citizens becoming very anxiety driven\u201d Officer Scanlon said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As more information about the attack came out, people started to realize that the U.S. was the target and ultimately the victim of the largest and most infamous terrorist attack to this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Citizens began to come together with love and support for all during this widespread time of grief and despair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it drew people actually closer together once they started to understand the circumstances and the complexities, and you as a nation are really a victim,\u201d said Officer Scanlon. \u201cI noticed citizens become very anxietydriven. I felt like it made people more kind to each other. It was one of those things that affected people individually, but [also] on a collective [way]; it made people more like, I don’t know, wanting to help each other to do things\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Kevin Dames, a professor at SUNY Cortland within the Kinesiology Department, shares a similar viewpoint about the events of that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Definitely a traumatic and confusing experience,” said Dr. Dames. \u201cNot knowing what the Twin Towers were, like what it represented, why would it be targeted? What kind of message it [the attack] was supposed to send?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack on the Twin Towers left people confused and traumatized. Children and young adults didn’t know how to process the events, not during them, and certainly not after. Major changes had to be made, especially concerning safety measures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I mean, everyone was affected,” Dr. Dames said. “I remember times when you could walk your family members to the gate and get them onto the airplane. The current generation has no concept of that. You are required to say goodbye to your loved ones at the beginning of the process, before they go through all of the rounds of security.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This goes back to the remembrance of 9\/11 that is so important to carry on to future generations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStudents may come to class and understand the tragedy that happened, but chronologically, people who are of \u201cnormal\u201d college age were born after 9\/11,\u201d said Dr. Dames. \u201cThe understanding is there but there is less of an overall impact and remembrance compared to students of the past few decades, it’s not the same level of gloom that comes over them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the events that took place may not be a primary part of how people view the world, there are effects that still linger in the background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we’re all still impacted,\u201d said Dr. Dames. \u201cThe outcome of these experiences and how we shape our daily life is still there, whether we think about it directly or not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those who grew up during the 9\/11 attacks, constantly being aware of your surroundings can prove to be tiresome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9\/11 brought a new perspective, bringing to light the idea of public safety. In today\u2019s society, people are more sensitive to possible threats, which leads to overall anxiety and worry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe remembrance part is important. I think it translates a lot over to other areas of our military and kind of remembering where we are as a country and how important it is to be strong as a country\u201d Officer Scanlon said, remembering 9\/11 as an important lesson because it made not only the U.S. military stronger but also the country as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m very aware of safety in part due to the 9\/11 experience and understanding that at any time anything can happen,\u201d said Dr. Dames. <\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Written by Lacey Francis, Susana Landaverde, Travis Webster, and Kevin Daly \u201cUnfortunate\u2026 When I think back, I just think that it’s unfortunate that these individuals felt that they had to do something like that. But on the flip side of it\u2026 be proud. So proud to be an American\u201d said John Scanlon, a Homer police […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":10578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-Jul-28-2026-at-01_28_42-PM-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2026\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-Jul-28-2026-at-01_28_42-PM-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Special Contribution to the Dragon Chronicle","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/author\/paul-arras\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/dragon-chronicle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}