Remembering September 11th

Yesterday was the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11. A decade ago, it would have seemed unthinkable that anyone would ever need to be reminded of that fact. And yet, fifteen years after the worst terrorist attack in world history, and the deadliest single attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, it seems as if more and more people need to be reminded of what exactly happened that day. Or rather, they know on an intellectual level what happened, but they’ve forgotten what it felt like, or forced themselves to forget.

We spent the first few years remembering, vowing each time to never forget those feelings of pain, loss, and anger—and afraid of another attack, just as devastating. Then, around the ten-year anniversary, people began wondering aloud why it was becoming so easy to forget those feelings, and why people were becoming so comfortable in their forgetfulness.

Today, some of that still goes on, but even those questions become fewer. Each year seems to bring fewer tributes on the nightly news, and fewer people willing to remember aloud.

On one level I suppose that’s to be expected. FDR said that the Pearl Harbor attacks would be a “day which will live in infamy”, but each decade also brings fewer remembrances, as those who lived through that day and its aftermath continue to die off. I’ll be honest: I usually have to look up which day it actually was. The eighth of December? The ninth? It seems like ancient history now, to me and many others.

But 9/11 still feels raw. The perfect recollection of everything that happened that day. The feeling of not fully comprehending what was going on, but seeing all the adults somewhere between worried and terrified and trying not to show it. As with those who lived through Pearl Harbor, nearly everyone alive on September 11, 2001 will never truly be able to forget that day.

And we shouldn’t, because that day changed the country, and the world, forever. We shouldn’t try to forget, because that day is part of our history, both the pain and the heroism of many who gave their lives, especially the first responders in the Twin Towers, and the passengers and crew members of United Flight 93. That day also displayed to the world some of what truly makes America great.

Go here for a list of all those who died in the attacks.