It was a beautiful September day in New York, but yet there was sadness in the city because it was the 21 year anniversary of the 09/11/2001 attack. That day Bodi, Darma, Gurmer, and Lil Foxy stood at the World Trade Center attack memorial, they had arrived in New York on September 10th from China. Bodi placed some flowers on the memorial and wiped a single tear from his eye.
"Bodi, why did you want to visit this memorial?" asked Darma placing her hand on the dog's back.
Bodi looked at Darma with a weak smile. "This is where my mother died on September 11th, 2001." he explained. "She left Snow Mountain on September 7th to visit some friends. I was only one when she died when the towers fell." he said without shedding tears, but his friends could tell by the look in his eyes that he was heartbroken.
Lil Foxy stepped up to the memorial and placed her hands on it in sorrow. "My uncle who I never got to meet died in the jet that hit the first tower." she sighed sadly. "My parents told me that he would have loved me very much." she stated with a frown.
"Sad, Dudes!"
The dog and the two vixens looked at Gurmer the goat and nodded in agreement. They all knew that day of 9/11, would be a day to remember just like December 7th, 1941 when Japan attacked the American Navy at Pearl Harbor.
Bodi looked at his friends and smiled. "I may have lost a mother that I hardly knew, but fifteen years later in 2016 I met you guys." he stated proudly. Bodi then embarrassed his friend with a hug.
"Then a short time later you three met me!" giggled Lil Foxy.
"You got that right."
Bodi turned his attention back to the memorial. He wished that he could have spent more time with his mother, but the dog knew that that was life. Just then a fox in his early thirties walked up to the memorial and placed flowers on it.
The fox smiled at the four friends. "I didn't lose anyone I loved on that awful day, but I did come to pay my respects to those who did die." he explained with a caring smile.
Darma looked at the fox with respect. "I did not lose anyone on that day either, but I did come to pay my respects too," she explained as she held out her hand in greeting. "What's your name?"
The fox took the vixen's hand in his. "I'm Justin." he laughed as he shook Darma's hand in greeting.
"I'm Darma and these are my friends, Bodi, Gurmer, and Lil Foxy."
Justin looked at Bodi and his friends and could tell that they were only young adults that never got to truly understand what he felt when the attack of 09/11/2001 happened. So he decided to let them into a little bit of his history.
"Would you guys like to know about my point of view of this event in American history?"
Lil Foxy smiled at Justin. "We all would like that." she replied as she and her friend sat on a bench.
The fox smiled and cleared his throat. "I was ten years old and at school in South Carolina when the attack happened." he explained turning his attention back to the memorial. "My class and I were taking a test. Our families were in the room waiting to take us home after the test when suddenly a stranger burst into the room saying that New Your had just been attacked."
The four friends looked at one another with amazement and shock. They were only babies when the attack happened, but Justin was almost a teenager when it happened. Justin went on with the story.
"My mom and the other families rushed out to their cars and turned on the radios. Reports were coming in about two other attacks as well." explained the fox as he pulled out a map of America.
Bodi and his friends looked at each other with surprise and shock. "I thought it only happened here." said Gurmer scratching his head.
Justin pointed at Washington DC and Pennsylvania on the map where two other planes crashed by terrorists. "No one on the four planes lived to tell their tales, but some of them died as heroes." explained the fox proudly. "The ones who died as heroes ruined the terrorist's plans. The targets were also in Washington, but they failed thanks to those passengers." he added as he pointed at Pennsylvania where Flight 93 went down.
"What happened after the attacks?" asked Lil Foxy.
"President Bush called it one of the worst attacks in American history and declared war on the terrorists who were responsible. So many Americans joined the armed forces to avenge those who lost their lives and to prevent future attacks. I was only a kid, but I wanted to join the fight too." stated the fox with pride.
"I heard it took years, but the leader of the terrorists was taken out." said Darma with a proud look.
"Yes it did. It just goes to show that America is a giant and will strike back real hard and win it's wars." laughed Justin saluting the American flag that was next to the memorial.
Bodi, Darma, Gurmer, and Lil Foxy now knew what really happened after asking others who also was there on that September day and those who were not in New York like their friend Justin. It was a day that they and so many others would not forget.