April 15, 2013 Reflections

On April 15, 2013 around 2:49 pm two bombs exploded on Boylston Street during the Boston Marathon killing three people and injuring many. I found out about the attacks on my way home from class when an alert came on my phone and then as breaking news on the radio. When I first heard of the bombing, I was shocked then angered, not so much shocked that there was another terrorist attack but where it took place; it made me realize that this can happen anywhere and that I've become complacent from the lack of terrorist activity after 9/11. In the past when I thought of a terrorist attack I thought about big cities, embassies, government buildings, etc., so the fact that it happened in a marathon was surprising. Like many Bostonians and the rest of the US I was stuck to my television during the manhunt until both suspects was captured.

The generosity of civilians present at the event was awe inspiring. Yes we had police and firemen, EMT's helping but the majority of the people helping to carry victims, stop bleeding were bystanders there to watch the marathon, marathon volunteers, the runners and their loved ones who were there to cheer them on. These people raced into the chaos to help save those present, risking their lives for stranger. It made me proud to be a part of a community of such self-less people. Being a Bostonian and watching the way everyone united after the bombing has showed me that terrorism breeds unity. When calamities strike, people unit and that whenever the bombs explode or some other event occurs (naturally or otherwise) we’ll watch each other’s backs.

As a nation I believe that it’s important to remember that no amount of planning or strategizing can truly prevent an attack, that terrorism attacks don’t always come from sources outside our nation but that it can also occur within. These terrorists use violence as a way to carry out their preconceived political and religious beliefs. Too often because of their religious beliefs these organizations or person assume they know what God wants, or what his intentions are, they justify their actions by blaming their faith, but the truth is no one knows what god’s intentions are, we don’t know what he has in store for us. Just because something may seem like the right thing to one person or even a country, does not always make it the right in the long run. We need to stop justifying our actions with our beliefs and realize that God did not tell us to go to war with each other, nor did he tell us it’s okay to hurt and kill innocent people in his name; we made those decisions on our own, and it’s only end up hurting the innocent.

It showed how training, planning and attentiveness can help us mitigate disasters. After 9/11 this attack showed me how much more prepared we are when it comes to dealing with terrorists attacks. Listening to stories from medical and emergency personnel on how quickly they were able to ready emergency rooms in preparation of surgeries, in making sure they had enough staff on hand and the willingness of the staff to do their part to make these patients comfortable and how quickly and efficiently emergency responders were able to communicate and work together is astounding. The countless training in disaster preparedness after the 9/11 attacks has made us a nation that’s more prepared to deal with the fall out of such attacks.

We also need to be realistic in our expectations of our leaders. It’s unrealistic of us to expect them to make promises that another terrorist attack will never happen again in the future. The Boston Marathon attack has showed that our abilities to predetermine those capable of planning and carrying out terrorist attacks is very limited. Higher levels of security is also needed at those events that may not rise to the level of a major security event, but since large groups gather and draw national attention at these events the Boston attacks proves that these attractions are now becoming more attractive for terrorist group; more security is needed at these kinds of events.

 We move on by showing the world that even though these brothers wanted to instill fear in us, we banded together, they wanted to create fear and instead fueled our fire. We need to be able to show that we won’t let anyone keep us from competing or celebrating; that we refuse to become victims and are willing to fight back, if they knock us down we’ll rise up stronger than before. We continue to live our lives without fear while continuing to be vigilant. We can’t allow these terrorist groups to win; we have to show them how resilient we are as a nation, by working together and supporting each other in our time of need. Our world leaders need to unite against terrorism, they teach us that when it comes to defending terrorism, they are willing to explore every avenue to ensure the enemy knows that their actions will not be tolerated. They teach us to be outraged by terrorist actions but to applaud our own when it’s time to retaliate. As society we need to find ways discourage terrorism. We need to avoid violence when dealing with the enemy, to find out the root of the cause and find ways to solve them. We also have to accept that there will always be those who want to harm us, in the name of freedom.

The Boston Attacks has taught me the meaning of true resilience and persistence and it has given me a sense of pride and honor to be a part of a community that values human life above all else. It’s showed how we as a nation can come together and unite as one in the face of tragedy, yes we may be divided politically, and religiously but once we’re threatened there is no stopping our dedication to one another. I learnt that we don’t live isolated lives only committed to their own freedom and lives as I thought, but that when a community cares about its citizens our individual fate becomes linked. The relentless dedication, grit, endurance and bravery of our emergency responders were inspiring, from our police officers and firefighters, to military personnel and civilian bystanders who ripped down barricades to get to those who were injured in the blast. Our medical service staff of EMT’s, nurses, doctors, etc who worked tireless to help save the lives of the injured, as well as those in our community who showed their support to those who lost loved ones or was injured in the blast.

This attack also showed how we as a nation can unit and work together. It showed how by banding together as a nation we can make a difference. We saw how tragedy can unit even self proclaimed rivals, this was apparent when those hated Yankees and their fans sang the “sweet Caroline” song demonstrating our unity, and the patriotic atmosphere at the Bruins hockey game. We may be a diverse group but when it comes to supporting each other in times of distress, we’re very much united.