The Boston Marathon Attack: The People Of Boston's Attacks

On April 15, 2013, the people of Boston experienced a tragedy they never saw coming. The Boston Marathon attack was an attack against the American people and our nation as a whole. The emergency response teams from every conceivable organization used their resources to react as quickly as possible. What happened on the morning of April fifteenth will forever live in the memories of the American people and to those who responded quickly to the matter. As much as the city of Boston was prepared for the marathon, nobody could fathom an event like the bombings to take place. The government responded as quickly as possible, and I believe to the best of their ability. Not only that, but the Bostonians, the people of Boston, had a huge impact on the

Having been present at many marathons in both Chicago and Boston, I can picture the atmosphere perfectly. The exhilaration and excitement coming from both athletes and bystanders as both parties prepared to embark on the day ahead of them. Whether it be families cheering on loved ones, strangers cheering on strangers, the feeling that is omitted at these types of races is one that can’t really be explained. So, as you can imagine, not many people were thinking that something as tragic as the bombings could possibly take place. In an article published by the New York Times, authors stated, “Two powerful bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, killing three people, including an eight-year-old child, and injuring more than one hundred,” (Eligon and Cooper, 2013). Many witnesses explained how the city of Boston went into complete pandemonium after the first bomb went off. “The F.B.I. took the lead role in the investigation on Monday night,” (Eligon and Cooper, 2013). At first, the bombings were described as a ‘criminal investigation that is a potential terrorist investigation’. At the time of the bombings, law enforcement officials did not have a suspect. After long hours of searching, officials identified the two brothers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerian Tsarnaev. From there, officals worked with the public and eventually found and detained one and killed the

Richard Serino, a deputy administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) U.S. Department of Homeland Security spoke before the U.S. Senate describing the ‘lessons learned from the Boston Marathon Bombings, focusing on the preparation and response to the attack itself. Throughout much of the discussion, Serino praised officials, police officers, and civilians who went out of their way to help those in need. He states ‘we must leverage all of the resources of our collective team at every level of government to prevent, prepare for, protect against, respond to, and recover from, all hazards’ (Serino, 2013, page 3). Within one of his paragraphs he speaks about FEMA and how the incident demonstrated how their approach helped empower the community. “Immediately following the event, FEMA, as part of the whole community, collaborated with our law enforcement, public safety and federal partners to provide expertise and were ready to help when the President issued a disaster declaration for the affected communities (Serino, 2013, page