We are almost a quarter of the way into the 21st Century and for most of that time we have been at war with an ideology. We as a nation, that is.
In all that has happened since then, both good and bad, it’s easy to forget that fall day back in 2001 when everything changed. At least for most us, because a good number of people were already fighting that fight while most of the nation was unaware of what was unfolding around the world.
Even for people such as I who followed Islamofascism and were well aware of the previous World Trade Center attack as well as others, this was a shock.
When the news that an airplane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center the almost universal reaction was that it was a horrible accident.
Then the second plane hit, and it was clear that it was no accident. Then the plane hit the Pentagon. Then a report of a plane crash in rural Pennsylvania. It was clear that we were under attack and were now at war.
What is important is that we not forget what happened that day, that we not forget the people who died, the people who were heroic, the way that the nation came together as a nation.
For Baby Boomers, this was the second “Where were you when…” moment. The first being the assassination of President Kennedy. For our parents, this was the third such moment, the first for them being the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1944. For Millenials, now in or approaching middle age, September 11, 2001 will be that day.
Hopefully, it’s the only one, but there are no guarantees in life.