Memories of attacks still fresh for New Yorkers at IU

Most IU students will never forget the events that took place Sept. 11, 2001, but for sophomore Lauren Marinelli and several others, the actions of that day literally hit a lot closer to home than the typical IU undergraduate.\nMarinelli, a Long Island resident in 2001, was at school when she found out a plane had hit the tower where her father was having a business meeting. \n"You don't really realize that something could happen to your family, and that was really hard for me," Marinelli said. "Trying to figure out where my dad was and what happened to him was something that tore me apart all day. Finding out he was OK was very relieving."\nUnfortunately, many other students weren't so lucky. Throughout the day, students were pulled from classes by their parents to go home, while others held on to desperate hopes that their parents had survived the attacks.\nAs confusion spread, classes were canceled and business stopped. The country began to get a better idea of what had happened, and rumors students had heard in school were put to rest.\n"I was in Italian, and I remember hearing that somebody said that a plane went into the Empire State Building, which was the first rumor that went around," said sophomore Adam Green. "Then someone said that the World Trade Center had been bombed, and then we found out that an actual plane hit it."\nGreen said that his mother was caught in the city and had to stay overnight in an apartment.\n"She said it was the most chaotic thing. She told me that she saw the actual plane hit when she was working at NBC and said that it was something out of a movie -- like something that you could never imagine seeing with your own two eyes."\nFor many New Yorkers, the wounds of Sept. 11 haven't healed completely as it's only been five years since the loss of thousands of family members and friends.\n"Everything is still fresh and all of the emotions, the devastation are still kind of lingering," Marinelli said. "(For) a lot of my family friends and people that I went to school with who have lost parents and have lost relatives, it's still an open wound. No one's really completely healed."\nThe recent recreations of Sept. 11 in movies such as "World Trade Center" and "United 93" have caused mixed emotions in the New York community.\n"I'd like to say that it's not too soon, but as a New Yorker, it is way too soon," Marinelli said. "I think with time, the hurt will subside, but it will definitely take some time to heal from."\nGreen also said he felt it might be too soon.\n"It's just too fresh in our minds," Green said. "I can still remember seeing every single detail on the news, seeing the buildings fall."\nThe images of that day are likely to never leave the thoughts and memories of those who were so closely impacted and changed by the attacks. \n"The way I look at that day, it's like older people know when JFK was shot. I think our generation's going to know where we were when we found out about 9/11," said sophomore Benjie Perlson.\nFive years later, the images of two falling buildings have been forever engraved in the minds of Americans. \n"I just hope that no one ever forgets what actually happened," Green said.