“Where were you when you first heard that planes hit the World Trade Center?”

Other Americans can answer that question. They remember what happens when the forces that seek our destruction reach our shores.

But almost every undergraduate student at Hillsdale is part of a new generation of Americans who cannot remember. We should still join those who every year reflect on what those horrifying and tragic moments meant.

What is there to remember?

Remember there are still heroes among us. More than 340 firefighters died that day — some of those who didn’t are still serving.

Remember that there has not been another 9/11 since then. We still ride airplanes — and we complain if they are delayed.

Remember, though, that there are still those who want to end our way of life. There are still people who chant “Death to America” — some of them handed out pamphlets with that message at the University of Michigan last spring. The same hatred for us that motivated the hijackers still motivates many of our adversaries today. This threat remains.

Hillsdale teaches young people about things they do not remember but should preserve. Even for people who cannot remember it, 9/11 should remain the most tangible reminder that those blessings are always under threat.

We may be too young to remember — this does not mean we should forget.