I believe history will come to view 9/11 as an event on par with November 22 1963 the date on which John F. Kennedy was murdered cutting short a presidency that was growing ever more promising. Dreams died that day in Dallas it is easy to imagine the 1960s turning out rather differently had President Kennedy lived.
Part of the reason for the ugliness of adults in a child's eyes is that the child is usually looking upwards and few faces are at their best when seen from below.