Never forget
Press / By Executive Board
As this day ends, most of us continue our lives the same as we did when this day began. As a nation, we are more or less the same tonight as when we woke up.
This was not the case 16 years ago. This nation began the day one way, and finished the day having completely changed. Lives were lost, trajectories altered, and the fabric of society completely dismantled. The nation had experienced something it had not experienced before, in this way: it had come face to face with mortality and vulnerability. The safe confines of the U.S. borders had been breeched by a terrorist attack, changing the way people saw the world. What was once a concept “far away” became an experience had at home.
In many ways, that experience allowed us to see the best America has to offer. People banded together, and became stronger than ever before. We were a hurt nation, but realized the importance of putting aside our differences, and acting selflessly to help each other.
That day remains vivid for those who experienced it, whether young or old. While many did not quite understand what had happened or why, it was clear that nothing would be the same again, whether personally or as a nation.
Let us not forget what happened, or fail to tell the generations to come of the events of September 11th, 2001. Let us tell of how the people of the U.S. came together. Let us tell of the loved ones lost, the heroes that helped, and the unification we experienced as a nation. Importantly, let us not forget lest we rely on catastrophe to bring us together.
Our society is experiencing pain, separation, and division. Regardless of one’s gender, one’s race, one’s political stance, or anything else, we are all Americans, and we are all people. We have our differences, and those make us unique. But at the end of the day, we all need to act selflessly and care for each other.
Let us never forget that day, and let us never forget the unity we experienced.
Executive Board
New Hampshire Federation of College Republicans
Image originally by Lower_Manhattan_Skyline_December_1991_1.jpg: Lars Plougmann from United KingdomLower_Manhattan_Skyline_December_1991_2.jpg: Lars Plougmann from United Kingdomderivative work: Trycatch [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
