Anyone alive to witness the horrors of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks will never forget the images of death and destruction forever seared into their consciences on that fateful day.
For generations of New Yorkers born since 9/11, however, they can only understand what happened through the lens of historical accounts — online videos of the attacks, published survivor stories, lessons in schools, field trips to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan, etc. Naturally, their understanding of 9/11’s significance will be far different from those who witnessed the events either at the scene of the attacks or on television 23 years ago this Wednesday.
We imagine that many might ask what the nation learned most about from the 9/11 attacks. The answers are more complex than they might seem.
On 9/11, we learned that our country was just as vulnerable to the threats of mass terrorism as any other part of the globe. Our sense of security following the Cold War’s end was forever shattered. We saw incredible evil that day — and vowed to take all means necessary to ensure such evil would never be committed again upon our land.
But on 9/11, we also saw incredible heroism and sacrifice. We saw hundreds of firefighters, police officers, EMTs, paramedics, court officers, volunteers and ordinary citizens give of themselves to save tens of thousands of people. We think especially of the 343 firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice on 9/11 in valiant service to the city – suffering staggering losses that no other fire department in world history has ever endured.
Then there are the unsung heroes of 9/11 — the army of first responders and volunteers who toiled for months at the World Trade Center site recovering victims, but whose work amid the toxins in the air resulted in long-term, fatal illness. Just this past week alone, the Fire Department added 32 names to its World Trade Center Memorial Wall of members who succumbed to 9/11-related illnesses. To date, the department has lost more than 360 members from 9/11-related illnesses on top of the 343 members killed on 9/11 itself.
And then there’s the heroic efforts of the passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93, who revolted against their hijackers after having learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They died when their plane went down in a rural field in Pennsylvania, but their actions saved countless people in Washington, DC and spared further destruction in the heart of our democracy.
When one considers the sacrifices Americans made to save strangers on 9/11, it reveals an incredible lesson of love. We are a great nation built on good people who, when the going gets tough, always gets going.
We must never forget 9/11, but we must also never forget that this is who we are — and that united, our strength will forever endure.
