A rendering of the 9/11 Memorial featuring the southern tower waterfall and reflecting pool (courtesy of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum)
It’s been 10 years since the day our nation was stunned by sacrifice and tragedy. We’ve been flooded these past few days with articles and remembrances of the moment that is seared into the heart and history of our country, and rightfully so. It is important to remember.
By some accounts, 9/11 is a closed book we can page through to survey the damage done. For me, three numbers stand out. First, more than 1,600 people lost a husband, wife, or partner in the four attacks. Second, more than 3,000 children lost a parent. Finally, a painful, personal number that continues to increase each day: more than 6,000 soldiers have died in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Behind each of these statistics is a family, a community that has not and will not forget. But what about America as a nation?
It’s easy to say we will never forget. After all, September 11, 2001, was the beginning of a new world, one in which brave women and men stood together. (This Washington Post story tells of one particularly courageous woman who prepared to take down Flight 93 before it crashed.) But a decade later, distracted by high unemployment, natural disasters, and the 2012 election season, we’d rather ignore the fact that 9/11 is anything but a closed book.
We don’t want to think about Iraq, where so many lives have been lost, or Afghanistan, where the war wages on, muted on our TV screens.
We don’t want to think about the quiet halls of veterans’ hospitals, where wounded warriors struggle to survive.
We don’t want to think about our absent friends and neighbors, the many mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, and brothers who are far away and in harm’s way.
To remember, it seems, is to walk with heavy boots. But that was not the reaction of our country immediately after the attacks. Instead, the emotions and ideas of a strong, unified community spread like wildfire. We were one nation, under God, indivisible. We were a nation that would endure.
It’s hard to remember what exactly that looked like. You have to check You-Tube for the image of our government leaders gathered together, singing “God Bless America,” a beautiful moment that seems downright incredible in today’s political environment.
Somewhere in the past 10 years, we’ve lost that solidarity, along with our can-do spirit. Blame it on the economy, the politicians, the media — there’s plenty of blame to go around in these hard times.
But just as we can remember and care for our military, we can also reunite our nation. Let’s start today.
