It’s 9-11 today. I can’t believe it has been 20 years since the attack. I was at school that day and I’ll never forget my teacher being pulled aside and told the news. I’ll never forget being home that evening and catching glimpses of the news, and watching the footage of the aftermath. What a terrible day. What a tragedy.
From ASM 36
Several years later I was reading through a digital collection of Amazing Spider-Man comics my parents had bought for me when I came across an issue with just a black cover. Inside I found Marvel’s tribute to the heroes of that day. It was a complete break from the story I had been reading. As I read through the issues I saw Marvel’s heroes reactions to the attack, but quickly realized that they were not the focus of the story. Even Spider-Man, who’s name was on the cover was really just an observer and narrator for this issue. Spider-Man is a story about a New Yorker. The marvel universe is mostly headquartered in New York City, and in this story Peter Parker is just a citizen of New York. He is trying to process what has happened and doing his best to help. He is, in this story, an observer of the devastation, and of the real heroes of that day. The men and women that came together and sacrificed life and limb, time and tears to help their neighbors.
ASM 36
I have reread this book nearly every year since then, but this year it read a little differently. As I read I was struck by the memories of how united our country was after that day. How we came together and united, how we supported one another.
I am so sad to see how far we’ve strayed from that since then. We’ve gone from a country united in our love and support from one another standing proud to a country that is so divided, so focused on building up our own self worth, tearing each other down, and focusing so much on defining ourselves that we seems more divided every day. As I look at the news from Afghanistan and I watch the news in our country today. I worry that we have forgotten the lesson that that tragic day taught us. I hope and pray that it does not take another day like 9-11-2001 to unite us again.
I hope that today, as we look back on the 20th anniversary of the attack that we remember the heroes, the loss, and the sacrifices that shocked us and united us, and that we can once again come together as a nation and stand tall.
If you would like to read the story for yourself it is available for free from Comixology along with a short 20th anniversary tribute story at the links below.