Honor 9/11 victims by sharing tributes

This year and every year, we need to bring the lessons of Sept. 11, 2001, to young people.

The tragedy that struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, keeps moving deeper into the past, yet the memories of that horrific day remain fresh and painful to those of us who lived through it.

Hard as it may be to believe, it’s been 18 years since the attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and aboard a plane that crashed in a field in Somerset County, diverted from its presumed Washington target by heroic passengers.

Enough time has passed since then for people just born or not yet born to have grown into young men and women. A generation of Americans has grown up knowing only the post-9/11 world of enhanced security measures and lingering anxiety. There are young men and women serving in Afghanistan today in a military operation that’s a direct result of a day they aren’t old enough to remember.

There’s been considerable effort over the years to teach young people what happened on that fateful late summer day, how an ordinary Tuesday turned unspeakably tragic.

It’s impossible to fully convey the feelings those memories elicit, but it’s imperative that we keep trying so that future generations never forget.

It started that morning with a report of a plane crashing into one of the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center. It was presumed to be an accident at first, until another plane hit the other tower in Lower Manhattan.

Later that morning came the attack on the Pentagon, and the collapse of the New York towers, shown on TV in what seemed like an endless loop.

Finally there was the painful wait to learn just what happened to United Airlines Flight 93, which disappeared en route to San Francisco from Newark, N.J.

The days, weeks and months that followed were awful.

There was the epic cleanup at the World Trade Center site and the agonizing period of uncertainty for people waiting to learn the fate of loved ones. Story after story emerged of victims, most of them ordinary folks just going about their business, now having left devastated families behind.

We also learned of great heroism on the part of so many people, particularly the first responders who rushed into scenes of devastation despite the overwhelming risk of death or severe injury. That led to a new respect for first responders that has continued to this day.

In the midst of this challenging time in late 2001, Americans developed a profound sense of unity. That was no small thing at the time.

The nation had just gone through a tumultuous period of political conflict, including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. The furious dispute over the outcome of the 2000 presidential election still lingered. But for quite a while after Sept. 11, all that was put aside, and flag-waving became very much in fashion across the political spectrum.

That didn’t last, of course. By the time the 2004 presidential election arrived, Americans were very much at odds again, with disagreements over the war in Iraq leading the way.

Amid the deep polarization we see now in America, today represents an opportunity to think of one another as fellow citizens rather than members of one side or another, at least for a little while.

There are several opportunities today to do that while paying tribute to those who made incredible sacrifices on this date 18 years ago.

Schools, municipal sites and first responders will be hosting tributes to honor the victims and heroes of that day and the period afterward. If you can join one such tribute, do so. If not, take a few moments today to remember and honor.

And tell the children and adolescents around you what today means.

This year and every year, we need to bring the lessons of Sept. 11, 2001, to young people. Doing so is a most appropriate tribute to the thousands whose lives were cut short on that fateful day.

May they be remembered today and every day for generations to come.