15th anniversary of 9/11 a lesson and memory

When Americans talk about 9/11, it’s common to recall where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news.

The conversation evolves into feeling your heart sink while watching the news on TV as the plane hit the second tower, knowing people who were there, or actually being in New York when it happened.

But for today’s high school students, Sept. 11, 2001, isn’t in their memories.

Students currently in grades 10 through 12 were toddlers or infants when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers. The freshmen weren’t even born.

“Over the last 14 years, I have seen how students were less and less aware of what had happened and the enormity of the tragedy that unfolded,” said Josh Newton, a history teacher at Buhach Colony High School. “My students today know what they’ve read online or watched on YouTube.”

Newton began teaching in 2002. He lived in Fresno at the time of Sept. 11 and clearly remembers that day.

“I try to get them (students) to realize it’s not a history lesson,” he said. “It’s a today lesson.”

At Merced High School, Steven Disalvo said his sophomores knew about the attack but didn’t understand why it happened.

“The only terrorists they have heard of is ISIS,” he said.

History teachers today show documentaries on 9/11 and ask their students to interview people who remember that day. The teachers hope to instill an understanding of why 9/11 continues to be an emotional day for Americans.

“Although they have lived their entire lives with the ‘idea’ of 9/11 ... they do not have a true understanding of how traumatic and terrifying it all was,” said Robert Sandoval, a Merced High history teacher. “It took weeks, months, years to slowly get to where we’re at today – a country that is forever changed.”

Remains of the Twin Towers are on display both in Merced and Mariposa.

The 9/11 Memorial in downtown Mariposa’s Arts Park is crafted from four steel I-beams recovered from ground zero in New York City.

Each beam, according to the sculpture’s description, pays homage to a specific group lost in the attack. The first represents the 2,753 civilians; the second is a symbol for the 55 military members who died in the Pentagon; a third is for the 60 law enforcement officers killed in the attack; and the fourth honors the 343 firefighters and emergency medical service personnel who became that day’s fallen heroes.

In Merced Superior Court, an artifact from the World Trade Center is on display: a badly damaged piece of steel from one of the buildings that was unveiled last year.

Frank Paredes, a World War II veteran who lives in Atwater, said today’s students know a country that’s in turmoil.

Paredes lived through the Pearl Harbor attacks and many battles thereafter. When he saw the events of Sept. 11, he recalled his time in war, he said.

“It made me think of those poor, innocent people who got killed,” the 96-year-old said. “It makes me remember what we did during World War II and Korea. It brings back memories.”

Paredes is scheduled to play the bugle in a 9/11 memorial service in front of Atwater City Hall at 6 p.m. Sunday.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 6:43 PM with the headline "15th anniversary of 9/11 a lesson and memory."