What September 11 Took From Me
A personal reflection on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, detailing the emotional impact of the tragedy on survivors and their families. The author discusses the role of oral history projects like StoryCorps in preserving the personal memories of those affected.
Why it matters
The piece underscores the enduring psychological legacy of national trauma and the importance of personal narratives in historical documentation.
Sasha Arutyunova for The Atlantic September 9, 2026, 7 AM ET Share Save During a visit in May to the Maritime Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I watched a film about a 1917 cargo-ship explosion that killed more than 1,700 townspeople and injured many more. The grainy black-and-white images of the flattened city catapulted me back to the devastation of Lower Manhattan after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Halifax suffered a blizzard following the cargo-ship catastrophe, and the sight of the city covered in a deep blanket of snow recalled the dust and debris from the once-glimmering towers that coated the Financial District. When I heard the recorded voices of the Haligonian survivors recounting their memories, I walked out of the small theater to cry.
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