15 years ago today on Tuesday September 11th, four planes were hijacked by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. Two planes crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center, one plane was flown into the Pentagon, and one plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after the passengers of the plane tried to reclaim it from the hijackers.

The sheer magnitude of this tragedy is unimaginable. On that morning close to 3,000 people lost their lives and over 6,000 others were injured. There were 1,609 people who lost a spouse, 3,051 children who lost a parent, and 20 percent of Americans knew someone that was hurt or killed.

To say that 9/11 was a turning point in modern American history is an understatement. That day shattered the notion that America’s geographic isolation would protect it from foreign problems. Only 26 days after the attacks, the United States military began air assaults on Afghanistan, and since 2001, America has participated in wars against Afghanistan and Iraq with a total casualty number of 6,831 U.S. military personnel.

Every year American citizens spend the day of 9/11 mourning those citizens and first responders who lost their lives. In the morning, families of the victims read all of the names of the people who died and in the evening the Manhattan skyline is lit up by 88 lights, creating two vertical beams of light that are representative of the two fallen World Trade Center towers.

While 9/11 is a day in American history that is remembered with grief and mourning, it is also one of the most touching displays of resilience that America has shown.

Following the attacks, New Yorkers donated 36,000 units of blood to the New York Blood Center, an estimated amount of over $1.4 billion was donated to 9/11 charities, and 343,000 hot meals were served to rescue workers on Ground Zero.

As BVWest students spend 9/11 watching the memorials on television, talking to family members about the day, and scrolling through social media platforms that are always flooded with messages of remembrance, I hope that the grief and sorrow of the day is also filled with the idea that the nation we live in is a strong and resilient one. It is a nation filled with people both at home and abroad who banded together, fought, and are currently fighting so that our generation may never have to experience something quite like the tragedy that rocked America 15 years ago today.