In Memory of 9/11

I was siting in advisory today listening to the morning announcements, which I and everyone else normally ignores, but today I had a reason to listen.  Today marks the 11th anniversary of 9/11 and I definitely wanted to show my acknowledgement with a moment of silence for all the victims.  Obviously this was a horrendous attack on the world trade center, Pentagon, and the attempt on the White House or Capital.

However, there were only about 3,000 deaths.   This number is similar to the death tole on any other day.  So what makes this event so special?  I believe it has a significant impact on American society, not only because it was a terrorist attack, but it sparked patriotism.  I read an article about some of the changes Americans made in their social life after the 9/11 attacks.

Not only were people displaying American flags outside their houses, they were hanging them from their cars and other places.  People also started to have different perceptions of others.  One woman said that "I think you're a little more cautious because you don't always know who your neighbor is."  People did not know who to trust and were scared that the mighty America had been attacked.

After the attack, people were more cognizant of their surroundings as well.  Airports cracked down on anyone with anything sharp, liquid, or dangerous.  In addition, people were cautious when it came to air travel.  No one wanted their flight to be one that crashed.

Now looking back,  it seems as if a lot of information has surfaced about hints that something was going to happen.  For example, when the pilots that flew the four planes went to pilot school, they only wanted to learn how to fly, not land.  In retrospect, it is easy to blame people for not doing something that could have stopped the attack.

I would argue that although this event was tragic and devastating, it may have been a little bit good for America.  People became more patriotic.  The government became more aware of possible threats.  And it gave the US motivation to hunt down Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.  By no means am I saying the event was a good thing, but I think America emerged stronger.

Do you think America was stronger after 9/11?  And do you think 9/11 had a bigger impact than just 3,000 deaths?