Next year will mark the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. As time goes by, it appears that we are reflecting less on the lives that were lost on that tragic day and instead narrowing our memory in a way in which we recognize 9/11 as simply the most horrific attack our country has ever faced.
According to The New York Times, the number of those who gathered to honor the lives lost on 9/11 was “noticeably smaller than in years past.” Rick Rojas attributes the smaller turnout to the fact that 14 years is not a milestone. However, I do not think that is the primary reason. I believe that people have become increasingly desensitized to the feeling of the terror and uncertainty that gripped the nation, and in fact, the world, 14 years ago.
In the years following that fateful day, continued acts of terrorism both at home — as experienced with the Boston Marathon bombing — or abroad — as in the Charlie Hebdo attack — have served to make it so that we focus more on when the act of terrorism will repeat itself, rather than how we can most effectively honor the victims. That is not to say that we do not pay tribute to the lives lost, but there seems to almost be a resolve that the current incident will not be the last.
Terrorism is a legitimate fear that pervades our country. However, I believe that focusing our attention solely on when the next terrorist attack will occur diminishes the loss of every man, woman and child who perished as a result of senseless cruelty. We should remember the individual people and their stories because that is how we can best unify our country and memorialize those directly impacted by 9/11.
The phrase “never forget” is spread across social media platforms each year on Sept. 11. I fully support the expression because if we do forget the events of 9/11, we will be dishonoring the memory of those who lost their lives, as well as the families and friends who lost loved ones. However, people have also expressed their remembrance of the devastating date inappropriately on social media. Selfies are the most popular online trend and we live at a time when people are obsessed with sharing every moment of their lives publically. It does not help that we are able to share these moments the second that they happen without taking the time to truly consider their impact. People who take selfies at the 9/11 Memorial trivialize the tremendous loss that many people suffered; that is not to mention that it is also insensitive to those who wish to visit the site for meaningful reflection.
I personally have no recollection of 9/11 being only five years old at the time. My parents shielded me from the ongoing news coverage, and despite the suspension of air travel in the days following the attack, I was unaware of the sound of the Black Hawk helicopters flying over my northern New Jersey home, a 15 minute drive from the Lincoln Tunnel. As I got older, I am glad that my parents no longer shielded me from the horrors of that day and the impact that it had on our family and friends. There reaches a point when we all have to come to terms with the terrifying memories of that day, or else we will continue to become desensitized to further tragedies.
My father recalls the phone call that his secretary received from her son, a New York City police officer, shortly after the first tower had been hit. He had told her it was going to be bad and not to expect to hear from him anytime soon. A first responder, he was diagnosed with leukemia just a few years later. He understands firsthand the lasting impact that the attack has had on the brave men and women who risked their lives in the hours and days following the devastation and has fought alongside others for that recognition. My uncle, at the time a Verizon executive who two years prior had an office in the World Trade Center, had moved uptown and walked across the George Washington Bridge to his home in Bergen County, New Jersey that day. I cannot fathom the sense of panic that our respective friends and families felt while waiting for any news.
Sadly, we all know that there were others who did not make it home to their families that evening. The nephew of a long-time family friend, the sister of a colleague of my parents, a high school classmate of my mother, who along with his brother and the father of a high school classmate of mine, were among those who worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald, a company that experienced a particularly heavy loss. The loss could have been closer to home for me and I am grateful every day that my loved ones who worked in New York were not tragically affected by the turmoil.
As time goes on, I am certain that less people will remember 9/11. Similar to any other tragic event, such as the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the image of the towers collapsing will become generational and eventually something that people can identify only as having read in a history book.
It is undoubtedly easier to focus on the obvious negatives when remembering 9/11, especially given the terrifying reality that terrorist organizations are still active today. As the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS continues to terrorize people around the world and stories abound of possible bomb threats, we cannot help but wonder if and when history will repeat itself. Although we can hardly say that anything positive came of 9/11, there was the fact that our country became more unified, if only briefly, as a result.
As our country experienced the aftershock of the events of 14 years ago, we had one thought: How do move forward? Although tightening security and monitoring terrorist threats were the most practical choices, we also realized that we needed to pick up the shattered pieces of those around us and help put them back together. We have gotten away from that thought and need to rediscover that sense of camaraderie that we felt when showing the world that our country exudes strength and resilience. If we continue to await the next tragedy, we will only splinter our nation rather than bring the nation together. We must remember the individual stories and indeed “never forget.”
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