I hope we never forget 9/11, but also remember what came next – The Vicksburg Post

It has been 23 lengthy years because the terrorist assaults on America in 2001, the day we now confer with as 9/11. For these of us who’re sufficiently old to keep in mind that horrible morning, it nonetheless feels prefer it occurred yesterday when the anniversary rolls round annually. I used to be, for all intents and functions, nonetheless a child in 2001. I used to be only a freshman on the College of Missouri and had solely been away from dwelling for a few month when the entire world appeared to return to a screeching halt. I’ll always remember it. And isn’t that what all of us promised to do?

On this yr’s anniversary, it’s clear most individuals round right here haven’t forgotten both. I wakened as we speak to loads of posts on social media meant to honor the recollections of these misplaced in New York, D.C. and Pennsylvania. The very first thing on my calendar this morning was a breakfast for first responders at The Salvation Military in Vicksburg that Maj. Janna Torgerson instructed me is held annually on the anniversary of 9/11. So, even with a hurricane bearing down on us and town internet hosting the Vacation spot Downtown occasion, people in our neck of the woods didn’t let the anniversary of 9/11 fall by the wayside. So good job, Vicksburg!

However, with every passing yr I can’t assist however marvel two issues as that horrible September day turns into a increasingly more distant reminiscence. To begin with, I all the time take into consideration my youngsters. I ponder if I’ve executed a ok job explaining simply how necessary it’s that we specific reverence for the hundreds of people that died that day, with out by accident passing alongside the grief and anger I really feel each time the anniversary rolls round. Or each time I see a pre-9/11 shot of New York’s skyline. Or each time I fly. That day lower deeply for us all and, regardless that I didn’t lose anybody I knew personally, it nonetheless hurts. I don’t wish to burden them with any of that, however I do need them to know the devastating intestine punch it was to our nation and the way necessary it’s we honor the recollections of these we misplaced and the service of people who responded, a lot of whom have since died consequently. I can’t assist however take into consideration my grandparents telling me about Pearl Harbor. I ponder in the event that they felt one thing related once they have been explaining what was, at the moment, the worst assault on American soil within the historical past of our nation.

The second factor that all the time involves thoughts for me on the anniversary of 9/11 is a query. Would the individuals who died that day be ashamed to see us now? Would they be ashamed of what we’ve change into culturally, how we work together with each other or how we speak in regards to the state of our nation? Would they be embarrassed we aren’t doing extra to unravel our issues? Largely, I ponder if they might be ashamed by how divided we’re. I’m certain a lot of you have got seen the identical publish on social media this yr that I’ve in relation to 9/11. I’m paraphrasing, but it surely principally says we shouldn’t overlook 9/11, however we additionally shouldn’t overlook who have been on 9/12. There’s a variety of reality to that.

I gained’t lavatory down right here by recounting how all of us got here collectively within the wake of the 2001 assaults. Should you have been there, you understand. Should you weren’t, you’ve doubtless heard the tales. However, we did. It was one thing stunning that got here from one thing past ugly. Right here we’re 23 years later and I actually imagine most of us would love to return collectively once more as a rustic. We simply don’t appear to know the way. We will’t appear to succeed in again and faucet into that spring of empathy that flowed so freely – and genuinely – within the aftermath of 9/11. I don’t have the reply for a way we attain that place once more, however I hope we discover it. And I hope it doesn’t take one other nationwide tragedy to shock us out of apathy.

It’s a special world practically 1 / 4 of a century after September 11, 2001, however perhaps, simply perhaps, if we maintain our promise to always remember, we’ll finally discover our manner again to the united America we grew to become, if just for a second, on account of that day.

Blake Bell is the overall supervisor and government editor of The Vicksburg Put up. He will be reached at [email protected].