The Trend of Patriotism

Living in America now means every time you turn around something American is almost always staring back at you. This is life in America post September 11th, 2001. In President Bush’s speech on the evening of September 11th he said, “…None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in this world.” And that is exactly what America did, for a while.

September 10th, 2001 everyone in the United States were living their typical American lives. Many didn’t care if they had an American flag in their front yard. Most didn’t even realize they were lucky to live in a land of freedom. The very next day Americans would soon discover three things: American society was not united, what true fear meant, and how to reunite. September 11th, 2001 everyone was leading their "typical" life when American flight 11 hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan at 8:45 AM. Everyone’s first though and hope was it was an accident until at 9:03 AM everyone’s worst fears came true when United Flight 175 hit the south tower of the World Trade Center. That is when Americans realized it was an apparent terrorist attack on their country. By twelve noon on September 11th the attacks were over but the fear wasn’t. By that time the Pentagon in Washington, DC was struck by American Airlines Flight 77 at 9:40 AM. At 10:00 AM on that horrific day the last plane struck American soil. That plane was United Airlines Flight 93 with 45 passengers. The passengers knew they were on a doomed flight and knew about the events on land. At their own wills passengers ambushed the hijackers over the skies of Somerset County, Pennsylvania were the plane would finally crash. No one honestly knows where that plane was headed, but most believe it was Washington, DC. The passengers on flight 93 were heroes for saving lives on the ground.

Back in Manhattan both Trade Center Towers had collapsed and fatalities were believed to be in the thousands. Lower Manhattan looked like a war zone of paper, ashes, loud beaming ambulance sirens, the injured, and dead.

September 12th, 2001 brought a new perspective on Americans. Many flocked to stores to buy American flags, flag pins, or whatever else they could find patriotic. Stores soon became overwhelmed with the demand and quickly sold out. By Friday September 14th American patriotism was at a high. Everyone living in America suddenly realized their freedoms and culture. American wanted to show the people who did the damage to the country that no one could shake them. As President Bush said on the night of September 11th, "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundation of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America."

In the months that followed the attacks every where you turned you would see an American flag. Everyone wanted red, white, and blue. Flag companies soon started extra shirts to keep up with the demand. For almost a year after the attacks everyone felt they wanted to be near loved ones and have the food they had as a child. Campbell’s chicken and tomato soup sales went up in the months that followed September 11th. Instead of going and spending money on movies people decided to stay home with their families and play classic board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble.

For a long time you could see the difference in Americans. But now over a year has passed and it seems America has slipped back to its normal self. You don’t see as many flags in yards, on cars, on clothes, and you definitely won’t find them on a pizza box. People are spending more money and family time has again minimized. In some ways it seems the few month after September 11th was just a trend, a trend of patriotism, family, and love. Just like all trends though this one sadly faded, but the memories of that day and days following will never fade.