It has been 11 years since Sept. 11.

The Northern Star Editorial Board remembers those who have fallen; however, 11 years later, we have a different perspective. We were children when Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

The seven of us that make up the Editorial Board are in our early 20s—five of us are 20. That age range puts most of us in early grade school when Sept. 11 happened; that age range makes most of us kids who had recess after lunch as well as story time in the afternoon.

The point is that Sept. 11 means something completely different to us than it does to the people that were there that day or to those who lost a loved one.

We didn’t know what terrorism was; we hardly knew what a hijacking was. We grew up in a different America than those who did understand.

Who were we to know that the hijakers that brought down two towers, part of the Pentagon and Flight 93 did it to take the lives of about 3,000 people? We didn’t.

The same we didn’t know that the attack on Sept. 11 would bring extreme discrimination against people of Middle Eastern decent, so didn’t we know a trip to the airport would someday feature a full body X-ray with pat downs and bomb-sniffing dogs. We sure didn’t.

Because of our youth, many of us thought it was an accident that four airplanes killed so many people. The idea that a group of people would do such a thing to our country intentionally didn’t add up.

As children we were shielded from the truth about what happened that day. Yes, we watched the newscasts. We watched Flight 175 hit between the 77th and the 85th floors of the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. We watched the South Tower collapse at 9:59 a.m. We saw the damage that was done to Manhattan and Washington, D.C.

For some of us, the problem was that no one took the time to give more of an explanation than “this is a horrible day.”

The members of the Editorial Board have learned more and more about this day as we have grown up. There are books, movies, documentaries, exhibits and memorials that explain each and every moment of that horrible day.

Although our age group didn’t fully understand what Sept. 11 meant when it happened, it seems we know now the vast impact it had on the country we call home.

We, along with most, have a better understanding of that day—now that we’re older—resulting in memories that will last a lifetime. Sept. 11 will forever be a day dedicated to remembering all we have to lose.

It will always be a day that changed America. It will always be one of the more touchy subjects between the people of our nation. It will always be the day that changed so many lives forever.

The Editorial Board would like to say that those who are gone will never be forgotten.

Take time on the 11th anniversary of this terrible day to remember the fallen.