Today is the 23rd anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 when hijacked airplanes crashed in several parts of the country, including some icons such as the Twin Towers in New York City.

Greene County High School History Teacher Darren Jackson says he incorporates the 2006 movie, “United 93” about the fourth hijacked airplane that was overtaken by the passengers and forced the plane to crash land in Pennsylvania instead of its intended target of Washington, D.C. He explains why he shows this movie when he is covering the topic of 9/11.

“I think that the good message in there is how these people turned things around and really became American heroes. As bad as that day was, as tragic as that day was, to lose the US Capitol Building, which I think that’s where they were aiming, would’ve been so much worse. And these people made a great thing out of a very sad day.”   

Jackson shares that as time goes on sooner or later, he thinks he will shelf the unit on 9/11 and not cover as in depth as he is currently doing. He describes some examples of other national tragedies that are not covered as heavily today as they were when they happened.

“What there must be a few thousand people that remember Pearl Harbor? So, I mean that was , of course, a national tragedy that was on everyone’s mind, but as time went, that’s just how it goes. We read Walt Whitman and we try to get the pain that he would’ve felt at losing (President) Abraham Lincoln, which of course is history now. I guess history just keeps marching on.” 

Jackson adds that the sophomores that are going through the 9/11 unit right now are very much engaged, asking more questions about the 9/11 event than he has ever had before. He thinks it is wonderful that the students are as interested in 9/11 as they are.