It has been twenty-four years — nearly a quarter of a century — since the followers of a demonic ideology attacked our nation. For some Americans, memories have faded. Others choose to forget or forgive. A whole generation has grown up with no firsthand knowledge of that day and little grasp of its history. Yet the events of September 11, 2001 brought a horror to our shores that the world must never be allowed to forget.
The same ideology that fueled those attacks still spreads violence across Europe and throughout the world. It continues to bring evil to our own shores as well. And yet, many remain complacent, blind, or willfully ignorant. Worse still, some within our own government aid and placate those who threaten us.
Today we remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost, the first responders who ran toward danger, and the families whose grief has never faded. Their sacrifice and suffering deserve not only our remembrance but also our resolve.
We must remember what was done to us on that bright September morning. We must stand firm against it. Be vigilant, for the evil one and his minions have not relented. The threat endures.
It's odd to think how these things work in our collective minds and how it impacts the culture, forever.
ReplyDeleteMy parents, who were in their teens during it, could recall World War Two very well. For men of my father's generation, even though he was a Korean War veteran, "the war", was World War Two.
When I was a National Guardsmen, "the war" was the Vietnam War, and my unit was packed with Guardsmen. I was of course too young to have been in Vietnam, I was just 12 when the NVA took Saigon, but it somehow had an impact on the era I grew up which was really felt. For me, however, the Cold War sort of became an overarching event.
The 9/11 and the world we live in today.