Sept. 11, 2021, marked the twenty-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks here in the United States of America. 20 years ago, thousands of people got up out of bed that morning and took part in the normalcy of their everyday lives. Many brewed and slammed down their coffee as they rushed out of their door for work, some might’ve picked up the morning paper from their local bodega, others might’ve boarded a flight to visit family back home and many kissed their loved ones goodbye unknowingly for the last time. Most people are familiar with the devastation, loss and terror that came with the 9/11 attacks, even if they weren’t old enough or born to bear witness to the tragedy firsthand. In fact, this week The Bengal got the chance to speak with Exko Ramey, an Idaho State University Honors Senior who was just a year and a half old during the 9/11 attacks, and she shared her experience and insight as to what 9/11 means to her and how she got to share that with locals in the area at a commemorative event held this year on 9/11.
Many across the world came together that Saturday on the anniversary of 9/11 and joined in mourning the countless lives lost during and long after the 9/11 attacks. One of the events held here in Pocatello known as the 9/11 Community Commemoration geared their focus specifically towards thanking the first responders that gave the ultimate sacrifice that day to help their fellow Americans in times of severe distress. The event was held in front of the Bannock County Courthouse and it welcomed dozens of people throughout the community looking to give thanks. Here is what Ramey had to say about her experience at the 9/11 Community Commemoration.
The Bengal: Exko, give me a brief highlight of how the event on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, went? Who was in attendance, what was the turnout like, what did you expect? Etc.
Ramey: I wasn’t sure how many people to expect because I have never been to, you know, the Bannock County 9/11 memorial before, but we showed up and there were quite a few people there! Community members, people from the university, the POW*MIA (Prisoner of War and Missing in Action) motorcyclists, and police and military personnel. Lots of first responders were there, I wasn’t just speaking to a crowd, I was speaking to the people that I was thanking. The fire department was there too, and they brought a bell that was rung in honor of the lives lost throughout the speech that was given there.
The Bengal: How did you get involved with the event?
Ramey: So, our interim director from the ISU Honors Program, Alex Bollinger, sent out a thing that was like “does anyone want to speak, they want two honors students” and they had asked for like, three weeks in a row. And I thought well, I kind of wanted to do it anyway, but I do so much, but after they had asked so many times I offered to do it. It was definitely something I did as a volunteer.
The Bengal: Do you personally know someone and/or have an attachment to a victim of the 9/11 attacks, or maybe someone you know that knows someone (distant relation) who was impacted by the 9/11 attacks directly?
Ramey: Um, not personally, I don’t think I know of anybody who was a victim, but the closest “relation” was, granted I was only one and a half years old, but my dad was in the Navy at the time and so you know, his job was affected at that point, the naval base was locked down, we couldn’t leave. That was the scariest part of it for my family, but I do not personally know anybody who died in the attacks.
The Bengal: What does the memorial of 9/11 mean to you? The majority of the ISU student population is made up of students that were either too young to witness the impact of 9/11 firsthand or not even born before the day of the attacks — how connected do you feel to this despite not witnessing it firsthand and where is your connection strongest?
Ramey: With this event specifically, it was interesting to think about my perspective on the memorial because I had only known the world after 9/11, but to listen to all these other people talk about the world before with things like airport security, was interesting to compare. Oh and even racial issues and (negatively) targeting racial groups, like these were around before but after 9/11 even more so I think. Now to me, looking back at what I wrote in my speech, it’s good to thank the first responders that helped and continue to help in drastic situations like the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A lot of people died that day but more would have died if we didn’t have the first responders to help.
The Bengal Staff would like to take this time to bring attention to and mourn the lives lost during the 9/11 attacks here on American soil, as well as the countless lives that we continued to lose due to conflict that arose across the world following these attacks.
