Friday, September 12th, the NY Times Metro Section focused on the September 11th Memorials. To me, this is very important. I was personally affected by the events on that day 7 years ago, and can honestly say that it does not get any easier. Every year, I still cry when I reflect on that morning; the morning that changed America forever.
I think that it is important to reflect on the past, because every lesson we need on how to make the future better can be found in lessons learned from our past. I am a huge history buff, and it is rare to experience such a huge part of history. I reflect on that day as my Grandfather reflected upon Pearl Harbor, or the way my Mother and Father reflect on the assassination of JFK. Memorials are a way for people to gather together and show that they care, and for people to unite.
September 11th is more than an event in history. It brought this nation together. It was the first time in my memory that I saw people who had never met, truly reaching out to one another. The morale in our nation was wounded, but our pride was strengthened, and we we united in our need to make it clear that we could not be easily defeated. I remember my 8th grade teacher saying, "You are all about to witness the giant waking up once more, hold on tight". She was right. We entered an ongoing conflict, we joined forces with our allies and the American pride was evident all across the country.
However, 7 years later, I think some people have already forgotten that feeling. People, like the protesters at yesterdays memorials, focus on the negative and the morale of this nation is getting to it's napping. Someone said yesterday that "it is time to forgive and forget and move forward", I disagree. We can forgive, and we can move on, but forget? Never. Forgetting past events which hold such an impact on our future is nonsense. Some may not agree with the events that have followed September 11th, but protesting in the midst of a memorial to the 2, 751 people who lost their lives on that dreadful day is not the answer.
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Just to play the devil's advocate here--some would argue that the greatest way to honor the victims of 911 would be to call attention to the way they have been used to justify a highly questionable war that has taken even more lives. Sarah Palin's recent equation of 911 and Iraz only strengthens that argument. That said, New Yorkers are very touchy about the way Ground Zero is exploited for political purposes.
I definitely agree that even though 7 years have passed, that day is still very much alive. My mother works on the very next block, and that image of her coming home completely white after walking over 150 blocks has never left my head. I don't think that we should forget, but I do think that it's time to move on and bring our troops home.
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