It was exactly two years ago today that two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The bombs killed three and wounded more than 264 others.
This infamous attack was noted by many to be one of the most gruesome attacks on American soil since ?Sept. 11, 2001.
The actual bombings started a long chain of events thereafter, including a shutdown of the city.
A violent shooting of one suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26; and a grueling trial in which the United States sought the death penalty for the other suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21.
A decision to sentence Dzhokhar to death or life in prison has yet to be reached.
The Boston Marathon bombings sparked the “Boston Strong” slogan that is still widely hashtagged and worn on clothing items ?today.
A nation came together in response to a tragedy that affected many more than just the marathon’s ?spectators.
Although I live miles away from the site of the incident, I had the privilege of attending the National Scholastic Press Association Fall Convention in Boston in November of that same year.
The streets of Boston were still plastered with little blue and gold ribbons even months later, and there were flowers scattered on the silent sidewalk around the finish line painted on ?Boylston Street.
The keynote speaker at the convention was Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a Boston Globe correspondent and self-proclaimed friend of Tsarnaev.
Student journalists and advisers filled a lecture hall to listen to the shock and pain Kanno-Youngs went through the morning he found out about the tragedy for which his high school colleague was said to be ?responsible.
As Kanno-Youngs read the reflection he wrote about his friendship with Tsarnaev, there was not a dry eye in the room.
That afternoon made it clear to me it doesn’t take a cynical genius to sit behind something as horrendous as the Boston ?Marathon bombings. Tsarnaev was someone’s son. He was a classmate and a friend.
He was a member of the National Honor Society and the captain of his high school wrestling team, according to Kanno-Youngs.
He was just like any other high school kid.
All people know, however, is that he was an alienated figure allegedly responsible for one of the worst attacks that affected the entire nation. As the second anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings has come upon us, news headlines have talked about that same attack, now noting Tsarnaev was recently found guilty of all 30 charges associated with the event and is eligible for the death ?penalty.
The families and followers of those affected by the tragedy have finally found a sense of justice, and a city who has stayed strong and banded together for so long has finally found their ?silver lining.
There is always a possibility of terrorist attacks no matter where you choose to reside. But I am proud to look back on these last two years during which the nation came together in wake of a tragedy to build itself back up and make itself stronger for the future.
snvanden@indiana.edu
