As we approach two whole decades since the tragic attack on the World Trade Center, we need to make sure we are sharing our experiences with the rising generation.
A typical conversation on any September 11th involves asking each other the question: where you when it happened? We all remember where we were. The memory is an imprint in our minds. For me, and many like me, it became a defining point in my young life as it drove me towards military service.
But yesterday on the 18th commemoration of that tragic day, I couldn’t help but marvel at the realization that young men and young women are now graduating high school who have no memory of 9/11 because they weren’t even born yet. There are going to be millions of young voters who go to the polls in 2020 who can’t answer the “where were you” question.
This is both startling and sobering. We should be grateful to wise leaders and battle-hardened veterans who allowed this generation to grow up without the fear we thought they would when we saw those towers fall. While our nation stands amid much anger and unrest, the fear of severe political violence is not something these young men and women have had to learn to accept as a constant backdrop to their lives.
And yet, we can’t let our desire to wish we lived in a world where the attacks never happened to keep us from sharing the pain of our experiences with the rising generation.
To be fully equipped to face the realities of our globally connected times, we must communicate how 9/11 and the ensuing years changed us as a people and changed our nation’s place in the world.
We pledged to always remember and to never forget. Part of that burden is to pass on that pledge to those who will take our place as the stewards of our republic. We must fight through the tears and horrible memories. We must share our story.
- The Liberty Hawk is Now on Medium - December 9, 2020
- Betraying Allies Is Not the Way to Avoid Being the World’s Police - August 14, 2020
- The Last Full Measure of Devotion - August 13, 2020