Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Fifteen years later, the best way to memorialize the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks remains to do what many people did instinctively on that horrible morning when burning jet fuel seared a calendar date into our nation’s collective memory.
Help a stranger.
Open your heart.
Show you care.
Any other response either rings hollow today or risks stoking ideological differences, which surely is not a fitting tribute to the nearly 3,000 people killed in New York City, Virginia and that now-sacred Pennsylvania field near Shanksville.
Unity and kindness. These are the seldom-discussed concepts on which you and fellow Americans should focus for at least a few hours during this anniversary.
Instead, the Sunday morning TV talk shows predictably will fill with chatter about whether Saudi Arabia can be sued, if our nation’s airports are yet sufficiently secure, and how to assess the ever-evolving war on terror. Those critical topics, while deserving of our attention on other days, miss the spirit underlying what should by now be widely recognized in the United States as the “National Day of Service and Remembrance.”
“The anniversary of 9/11 should be a reminder to us all about our common humanity and the opportunity we have to help people and communities in need,” said Jay S. Winuk, co-founder of 9/11 Day, a campaign touting this as a day reserved for community service. Winuk’s brother, a volunteer firefighter who of his own volition responded to the Twin Towers, was among those killed in 2001 as a brilliant blue sky became smudged by darkness.
A similar impulse – to help someone, regardless of personal peril – guided the actions of thousands of people, from trained firefighters and police, to restaurant workers and stock brokers turned rescuers.
Heroism spread as fast as smoke. Valiant passengers aboard Flight 93 placed final calls to loved ones, then fought back against the hijackers. Plumbers and electricians worked in the Pentagon’s bowels, even as portions of the building still burned. People fleeing the destruction called to stunned strangers: Take my hand, don’t let go until we’re safe. In Northeastern Pennsylvania and other parts of our nation unscathed by the planes but reeling from the psychological blow, residents asked, What can I do to help?
From an initial wave of fear and confusion emerged an uncommon strength. We lined up to donate blood. We watched together. We prayed together. We sang together.
Together, we vowed to do better.
Mark this 15th anniversary of the fateful day by rekindling a desire to do good, to commit to one another’s mutual welfare.
Perform a selfless act.
On this date, nothing else seems adequate.