Boston Marathon bombing 10 years later: What do you remember?

BOSTON — What do you remember about that day 10 years ago?

A day that started like any other sun-splashed marathon Monday we’ve grown accustomed to.

We remember the seamless start--we won’t forget the horrific finish.

Almost 3 hours after the race started--two explosions near the finish line. In the chaos, we wondered, ‘Did an underground transformer blow? What was that?’

Someone placed two bombs in backpacks near the finish line--set off to do maximum damage--and they did.

We lost 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, 23-year-old Lingzi Lu, and 8-year-old Martin Richard… to think, he would have been starting college this fall.

Dozens of others lost limbs, hundreds more suffered damage to body and mind.

We remember the heroes that day--not coming off the movie screen or out of the pages of comic books-- but off the sidewalks and out of ambulances and medical tents--giving the literal shirts off their backs to use as tourniquets.

We all wondered: Who would do such a thing?

In the tense days after the bombing, the city grieved.

We learned to deal with sadness, fear and anger all at the same time. It was an emotional cocktail that would upset even the most hardened of stomachs.

We remember the world reaching out to us.

Days later, local police and the FBI told us they were looking for two men: One in a black hat, and one in a white hat.

Their reign of terror wasn’t over. Early Friday after Marathon Monday, they were spotted--but not before ambushing MIT police officer Sean Collier, and later Boston police officer DJ Simmonds, who died a year after sustaining injuries that night.

We remember the manhunt through a quiet Watertown neighborhood, with residents awoken from their slumber by a shootout with police and the men in the hats.

By sunrise, Black Hat was dead, and White Hat was on the run.

The hunt for him was on.

The city of Boston shutdown. The T stopped running. Sporting events were postponed and nerves frayed everywhere.

Door to door manhunts ensued in Watertown, and officers in tactical gear with guns drawn turned up nothing.

Until just before sunset and after a hail of gunfire, White Hat waived the white flag of surrender while hiding in a boat of a back yard in Watertown.

Boston could finally breath again.

What do we remember?

We remember police, fire, first responders and average folks jumping into help without hesitation.

We remember medical personnel at Boston hospitals--the best in the world-- responding to a tragedy no amount of training could mentally prepare you for.

While it seems like just yesterday, it has been a decade of yesterdays.

In the years since, there have been more championships to celebrate. A pandemic to survive.

Indeed, Boston has moved forward. We are a better city thanks to the inspiration of Marathon bombing survivors and the loving memory of those we have lost and memorialize.

Boston Strong is what we called it.

That is no longer just a phrase or philosophy.

In this city, in our region, 10 years later, it is now a way of life.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group