I spoke to the son of a British man who died in the 9/11 attacks 25 years ago about the importance of the younger generation remembering the atrocity of September 2001.
As a 24-year-old, I was not yet born to witness the coordinated attacks on September 11, 2001, which killed 2,977 people, excluding the 19 hijackers, and injured more than 6,000 others.
Like millions of people my age, I have grown up learning about September 11 through photographs, footage and the stories of those who were there.
But Jonathan Egan lost his father Michael, 51, and aunt Christine, 55, in the deadliest terrorist act the world has ever witnessed.
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During an interview with the now 43-year-old, he told GB News: “9/11 was not just an attack on New York and the United States, it was an attack on the free world. There were citizens of over 90 countries in that building that were killed. It was an attack on our entire way of life.”
“It is vital to our way of life, to the future happiness of our children and the next generations, that we remember this, the gravity of this loss, and just as important, we remember what got us out of it, and that was citizens from the world coming together.”
A total of 67 British citizens were killed, including Michael Egan, who his son described as “a very proud Englishman” from “humble beginnings” on Hull’s Orchard Park Estate.
Mr Egan, just 18 at the time, told the People’s Channel it was his first week of college in Los Angeles when his roommates and resident director woke him.
For me and most 18-year-olds, the first week of university is a time to meet new friends, settle into student life, and look ahead to the years to come.
But Mr Egan, who initially believed he was in trouble, walked downstairs and saw his new roommates huddled around the TV.
“I saw the towers falling. I knew immediately that was where my father worked, and there was a good chance I had lost him forever,” said Mr Egan. “What I didn’t realise was that my aunt was visiting him that day.”
His aunt was visiting his father’s office on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Centre’s South Tower when United Airlines Flight 175 hit it.
“We were very fortunate to be one of the few who received a phone call from their loved one, so my father was able to call my mother from the 103rd floor of the South Tower.”
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the attack, and for my generation, 9/11 is history. But for families like Jonathan’s, it is a loss that has never stopped being personal.
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Mr Egan told GB News: “We were stronger and better for it. We were only able to get through it because of that. Let’s not wait for those disasters to happen before we are grateful for our ways of life.
“If you’re lucky enough to live in the United Kingdom, the United States, or anywhere in the Commonwealth of the Free World, there’s a responsibility that comes with that, learning lessons of the past. You can’t learn lessons if you don’t remember them.”
Around one in three people in Britain today were not born to witness the atrocity.
In the UK, around 20 million people are 25, the age group that largely corresponds to those born after September 11, 2001, according to ONS data.
Speaking on the importance for the younger generation to remember, Mr Egan said: “I’ve had the honour and opportunity to get to know and work with a lot of young adults who lost a parent who was just one or two years old at the time, and they don’t remember their father.
“By the time they were old enough to ask about it, the world was kind of done speaking about it,” he added.
The now 43-year-old became a father in the summer of 2021.
In a touching tribute to his late father, he and his wife, Audrey, named the baby Dean Michael Egan.
It was this, and his conversations with under-25-year-olds, that motivated him to be a voice for the families of the victims through his work with “Since 9/11 – Tackling Extremism Through The Classroom”.
“I truly believe that if we all spread kindness wherever and whenever possible, our world will be a much safer and happier place, and we can never let something like that happen again. It’s up to us to create a world that isn’t full of hatred and fighting.”
As someone who was not alive when the attacks happened, I cannot remember where I was that morning or what it felt like to watch the towers fall.
But the message and sense of togetherness that followed was a staple for my generation growing up.
The UK charity, Since 9/11, aims to ensure that, by educating the next generation on what happened that day, the legacy of 9/11 becomes one that builds hope from tragedy.
They provide a free Education Programme for all UK secondary schools and teach the events, causes and consequences of 9/11 in an effort to build a better, more peaceful and harmonious future – tackling extremism through education in the classroom and building a legacy of hope from the tragedy of September 11, 2001.
Whilst we all remember exactly where we were on 9/11, no child at school today was even born and many of their young teachers were small children or not yet born themselves.
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