The Greek dramatist Menander once wrote that “time is the healer of all necessary evils.” Not all evils, however, are created equal. On this date 13 years ago, an evil of immense proportion occurred on our soil. But now, 13 years later, we can look back and reflect with greater insight and wisdom.
I remember, near where I grew up, there was a mountain where you could see the top of the New York City skyline on a clear day. The Big Apple to a young boy was baseball, the Christmas carriage ride through Central Park, and the most buzzing metropolis in the world. There was a confidence that could only be found in the financial capital of the world, a swagger that the city could accomplish anything and its might could be felt globally.
But everything changed.
I was 7 years old when the Twin Towers fell. I began my day like any other, having Mom pack me up for school. There, I learned penmanship and math, and looked forward to going home to have my afternoon snack. My school did not inform us at the time of the attack and I went home blissfully unaware of the events occurring 70 miles south of my home.
When I got home that day though, my father sat me down and told me that I was old enough to know what was going on in the city. “Two planes flew into the Twin Towers in New York,” he said. An American icon had been destroyed and, with it, more than 3,000 people died.
I didn’t know how to react at the time. As I grew older and began to see the effects the attack had on our lives and our country, I began to understand the significance of Sept. 11.
America has been gravely attacked on two occasions: Dec. 7, 1941 and Sept. 11, 2001. Both launched America into global war. Both saw a nation awakened and united by the sacrifice and the heroism of those who answered the call in a time of great need.
Sept. 11 was the second “day which will live in infamy” in our history, but it is slowly becoming just another moment in time. People are starting to forget the heroism, sacrifice, and terror that occurred that day. 9/11 launched a new era in American history, one dominated by the threat of Islamic terrorism, and resulting in the greatest increase in government surveillance in our nation’s history.
Sadly, it seems many remember the negatives that resulted from the attack. While it was one of the greatest tragedies of our lives, many people my age should see and recall the other feelings that came out of this awful attack. America came together to support the cities of New York and Washington, D.C. President George W. Bush threw out the most memorable first pitch in baseball history. There seemed to be a revival in American pride, of how great this nation was and how we would come back from this stronger than ever.
We are now 13 years removed from that fateful day. The importance of it seemingly grows fainter and fainter with passing year. We, as Americans, though, should never allow this to happen, just as we have never let the memory of Pearl Harbor detach itself from the minds of the “Greatest Generation.”
The children who lived during those attacks, the ones just now graduating college or recently have graduated, are the custodians of this history. We will be the ones who determine how Sept. 11 will be remembered, and we will pass down the lessons we have learned to younger generations. We should never forget the fear that gripped our nation that day, but we should especially never forget the heroism of those who gave their lives in protecting us — like Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer, who saved many lives by giving his own, diverting his plane to a field in Pennsylvania away from its planned target in Washington, D.C., and the New York firefighters who ran into danger — and pulling us out of our darkest hour.