Reflections on bin Laden death, 9/11

One year ago, Osama bin Laden -- the world’s most wanted man held responsible for planning the devastating attacks on September 11, 2001 -- was killed by a group of United States Navy Seals on a top secret mission.

President Barack Obama gave the announcement of bin Laden’s death to people across the globe in a breaking newscast, informing viewers he had made capturing or killing bin Laden a “top priority” since taking office in January 2009.

“For over two decades, bin Laden has been al-Qaida’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies,” Obama said. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al-Qaeda.”

Nathan Mills, a senior at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo., heard the news of bin Laden’s death through a friend and initially didn’t believe it was true, he said.

“I spent several minutes Googling everything I could to find an answer, but eventually just waited for the announcement,” he said. “It was weird when I heard it actually come out of Obama’s mouth because bin Laden had become this almost mythical figure.

“I was 14 when 9/11 happened so after 10 years it seemed like he’d either never be caught or even didn’t really exist. Hearing it was a relief of sorts.”

Thousands of people -- especially college students -- rallied across the country that evening to celebrate the death of bin Laden, and Mills said he could relate to their jubilation.

“I never thought I’d be excited or want to celebrate someone’s death, but this man had been charged with and was responsible for the most life-changing event in America, certainly in my lifetime, and maybe in the history of the country,” he said.

“That night I felt like having some beers with friends and toasting the guys who actually pulled off the kill,” he said. “I wanted to shake their hands because they’d done something that instantly ensured American and the rest of the world was safer that night.”

However, Trenton Chavez, a senior at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, said Americans aren’t safer in a world where bin Laden doesn’t exist.

“Stopping one person won’t collapse terrorism as a whole. Terrorism still exists today,” he said.

Chavez discovered the news of bin Laden’s death while scrolling through Twitter on May 2, 2011. He also said he initially couldn’t believe what had happened and had mixed feelings about bin Laden’s death.

“Osama was a horrible man, no doubt,” he said. “However, stopping one person won’t collapse terrorism as a whole. I wish I were able to say otherwise. It will be an ongoing battle to put an end to terrorism.”

The events of 9/11 have made Chavez more aware of his surroundings, he said.

“Traumatic events like 9/11 are a reality check,” he said. “There are bad people out there that would do anything to watch others crumble. It’s sad, really.”

Ronald Pitcock, the J. Vaughn and Evelyn H. Wilson Honors Fellow at Texas Christian University, teaches the course “Cultural Memory in the U.S.” which focuses on how groups of people share a memory, referred to as cultural memory.

In his classroom there is a clear split between those who had the strongest reaction to bin Laden’s death, and those who had little reaction to the incident, Pitcock said.

“The students who have very clear memories of September 11, 2001, they see the death of bin Laden as an important moment in the post 9/11 world,” he said. “But they don’t see it as a final moment, as a conclusion. They understand that 9/11 carries repercussions that will move beyond the death of bin Laden.”

Students who didn’t have as clear of memories of 9/11 tended to “regard the death of bin Laden as more of a conclusion,” Pitcock said.

In Pitcock’s class, students discuss how groups of people share a memory and preserve it over time. The past six weeks of their course has been devoted to 9/11 using materials, such as Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, for reference, he said.

“One of the greatest challenges to this generation is how to remember 9/11” Pitcock said. “Is there a way for people who experienced 9/11 to convey that moment down the road in the future in a way that captures and remembers the emotions we felt that day that captures the horror?”

By using a variety of texts, videos and other recollections of September 11, 2001, the class develops an understanding of how a group of people remembers a certain event, he said.

However, this understanding is difficult to grasp and maintain as generations age and new generations are born, Pitcock said.

Four years ago in his class of 44 students, all but two students were aware of what was happening on the day of 9/11 as it was happening, he said.

However, today in his class of 44 students, approximately 20 students are unaware of the events of 9/11 as they were happening in 2001, he said.

“So already now you see how as the younger generation comes up, we’re starting to have people who really don’t know the details of that day,” he said. “Who don’t have a full understanding of the emotions and the horror of what people felt on September 11, 2001.”

This change in the cultural memory of generations influences how students -- and Americans -- feel about the death of bin Laden and its affect on society as the years pass, Pitcock said.

“I think there will be a temptation for people to want a nice, clean ending to this story and say, after 10 years, the mastermind behind the events of that day was killed,” he said. “And that’s an easy place to end the story. But when you do that, you miss the traumatic accounts that shaped the day. You miss the stories of loss and recovery, and we miss a lot of the human element.”

Megan Gates is a Spring 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.