Coming of age in 9/11 aftermath

Coming of age in 9/11 aftermath
In light of Osama bin Laden's death Monday almost 10 years after the terror attacks that rocked Americans, college students in Shasta County reflected on the day that introduced many of them to war for the first time.

But for some who were children on Sept. 11, 2001, that day led to more than just fear or sadness.

"I actually feel like I don't trust our government as much as I did before. They're in so much power and control," said 21-year-old Shasta College student Jessie Peckham.

Much like those growing up during the Vietnam War, many local students say coming of age in the aftermath of 9/11 molded their views on everything from prejudice to foreign policy.

Kristen Hall, an 18-year-old Shasta College student, said she's certain that dealing with the 9/11 attacks as a child shaped her anti-war beliefs.

"Seeing how my mom reacted to it, it's just not something I like at all. I'm virtually against war just because of that," she said.

Hall said she hadn't thought about war much before 9/11, but feeling personally threatened changed her point of view on the subject.

"If that hadn't have happened ... I heard about the Vietnam War, but that didn't have an impact on me at all," she said. "It does have a huge impact on me and my view of war, because it was here."

Rory Anderson, 24, of Shasta Lake said he witnessed prejudice for the first time after 9/11 and the backlash from the attacks led him to be more open-minded.

"I didn't like afterward and how they're generalizing and blaming one people for several people's actions," he said. "Everyone was like, 'Bomb Iran! Bomb Iraq! Bomb Afghanistan!' And you know that not every one of them had to do with it."

Claire Settlemire, 17, a Shasta High School senior who takes classes at Shasta College, agreed.

"The sad thing is, there's innocent civilians being affected by this, and I feel so bad for those people, just being stereotyped," she said.

But Settlemire said, unlike many of her peers, she supports the wars in the Middle East, although foreign conflict isn't ideal.

"I think it's something we couldn't really get around," she said. "I just wish it didn't make us have to act." And having four friends who have enlisted in the military in the past year has made her more sensitive to war, Settlemire said, adding that they all felt a need to protect their country after the terrorist attacks.

"They feel it's their duty; they have that sort of attitude," she said.

But Peckham said she doesn't feel war was justified, and the government didn't give enough information to the public for her to endorse it.

"I thought it was all propaganda. I still don't think they have any proof," she said. "They treat us like we're stupid. They would talk in circles."

Peckham said she supports the troops because her brother enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after 9/11, but she doesn't think they should be in the Middle East. And just because bin Laden was killed, it doesn't mean they'll be pulling out soon, she said.

"What does it change? We're still in Afghanistan. We're still in Iraq. We're still invading other countries," she said. "People say they're excited, but it's also been how many years? I don't trust a lot of it."