'25 years after 9/11' by Vincent

It is deeply saddening to see how quickly memory can fade.  On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, America suffered a terrorist attack that killed over 3000 innocent people, scarring countless thousands more, and changed the trajectory of our nation.  The victims were not abstractions; they were parents, children, police officers, fire fighters, office workers, travelers, and strangers in a foreign land that never had a chance to say goodbye to loved ones.  Their lives deserve more than an annual ceremony or a few moments of silence.  They deserve a country of grateful citizens that remembers the lessons learned as well as the perpetrators of that fateful day.

We should remember the courage displayed in the face of unimaginable terror.  First responders and ordinary citizens alike, ran towards the danger, while many rightfully fled.  We should remember the families that anxiously waited for phone calls that never came, and the souls that were never heard from again.  Communities across the country mourned together; and for a brief period, Americans recognized that national unity was not just a catchphrase, but a moral responsibility.  The type of unity that doesn’t require additional tragedies as a reminder. 

 

Yet here we are twenty-five years later, and far too many people have allowed that horrific day to fade into the background.  A dark footnote barely mentioned in history books; or perhaps a solemn anniversary post on social media before everyone returns to ordinary life.  That forgetting is not harmless, it diminishes the victims, insults the survivors, and abandons the lessons bought at an unbearable cost.

On that day, Islamic terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial airplanes. They crashed two of them into both towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, another struck the Pentagon, and the heroic passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 forced the crash of the fourth plane into a field in Shanksville Pennsylvania before it could reach its intended target, the U.S. Capitol; sacrificing their lives so that others may live.  I get goosebumps every time I hear the story of courage and sacrifice aboard U.S. Airlines Flight 93 that fateful day.  The words “Let’s roll” will always have its own special meaning in American history.    

But these attacks were not just an organized act of mass murder by Islamic extremists, they were a blatant attack on the American way of life, which is something we must never forget.  To some this may sound controversial, but it is indeed a fact.

Yet, public conversations become so desperate to avoid offending Muslim culture that it blurs responsibility into vague phrases about violence and zealotry.  Evil does not become less evil by clouding the truth; it only emboldens it.  Islamic extremists planned, financed, and executed a barbaric attack against innocent civilians.  They should be identified plainly, condemned unequivocally, and never romanticized, excused, or transformed into symbols of tyrannical rebellion.

Americans have every right to remain angry about the tragedy of 9/11 and must remain vigilant to prevent it from ever happening again.  It is perfectly legitimate to demand that government agencies identify threats, enforce immigration laws, secure the nation’s borders, and investigate extremist networks, both foreign and domestic. 

The Islamic terrorists who attacked the United States that day wanted to instill fear, with the hopes of destroying our nations will.  We learned quickly that our gracious welcome mat and generosity were used as weapons against us.  Careless procedures at airports coupled with virtue signaling and lax immigration policies created the perfect storm for the unthinkable to take place.  It’s important we assign the appropriate blame to the actual perpetrators though.  Islamic extremism is the number one threat to America’s security and should always be treated as such.

Going forward, education is essential for the next generation to gain a clear-eyed understanding of what actually took place on 9/11.  Young people born after 2001 should not be expected to interpret September 11^th through random AI internet clips or distorted political viewpoints.  They should learn what happened, why it happened, who carried out this barbaric act, and the continuous threat we face from radical Islam.  They should study the courage and compassion that emerged that day, as an entire population came together as one grieving family. 

 

Those lost that day should not be dragged into ideological arguments or used as props.  Their lives were real, their grieving families are real, and their suffering was never meant to be used as a rhetorical tool to be wielded on anniversaries.  Honest remembrance requires holding these two simple truths at once; Islamic terrorists committed an atrocious act against innocent civilians, and they want nothing more than to do it again. 

Our nations legacy is shaped by what it chooses to preserve.  Hope remains possible because remembrance produces an enduring responsibility.  We must teach future generations to recognize propaganda, resist dehumanization, and reject the mantra of moral equivalency perpetrated by those same bad actors.  By doing so, we pay eternal homage to the survivors and to the families of victims lost on 9/11. 

Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer