How Do We Remember?

It’s been six years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and a question that has been dominating discussions this year might come as a surprise: Is it time to get over 9/11?

The Review’s Sarah Lipman addressed the idea in this week’s column:

Now is the time to really simplify tributes to 9/11, especially when not commemorating a five or 10-year landmark, and let families cope with their losses privately - no matter what stage they are in the grieving process.

Lipman's view is shared by an increasing amount of Americans across the country, many of whom feel politicians have turned the loss of more than 3,000 American lives into a political tool. The Philadelphia Daily News blogger Will Bunch made a case for this position nine days ago:

Because the problem is this: If we become consumed -- almost to the point of irrationality -- with national grief over 9/11 some six years now after the fact -- than our grief is too easily manipulated by the unscrupulous among our alleged leaders.

He went on to write:

Politics and 9/11 should not mix.

Except they already have -- every time that President refers to 9/11 in a speech about why our overburdened troops should stay in Iraq (where more more have died than in the 2001 attacks), or every time the tragic events of that day are cited as a reason to further rip our constitutional protections to shred, to spy on innocent Americas, or every time that a real world issue like the lack of health care for all U.S. children is ignored because no issue is allowed to trump our response to one lethal attack. Each anniversary, we have been looking back at the tragedy and the disastrous impact it continues to have on thousands of American families.

But foreign policy issues and the War in Iraq have served to lessen the impact of 9/11 in recent years. Democratic presidential candidate and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich made clear the extent to which the War in Iraq has diminished many people's capacity to commemorate the more than 3,000 lives that were lost less than a decade ago:

"I believe the best way to honor the memory of those who died on September 11 is to tell the truth of what the Administration did in the wake of September 11. The Bush Administration launched a war against Iraq, conflating the true tragedy of September 11 with lies about weapons of mass destruction."

While these views do outline valid points concerning what exactly 9/11 has become in the years since 2001, it is important to realize the continued suffering that many people affected by the attack are still experiencing.

Here’s a piece by Thomas J. Meehan III, who was confronted with this issue when he was honoring his daughter who was killed on 9/11:

We placed objects in the display cases Aug. 31. As we were completing the process, two women were viewing the display. One expressed how she felt about the display. The other responded, “Why don't they get over it?”

I am not sure if she realized we were in earshot. If I had responded I would say the exhibit is there for people exactly like her because the lives of almost 3,000 Americans lost that day should not be forgotten. The outreach to the families of Sept. 11 should not be forgotten. The sacrifices of those who worked at Ground Zero, and paid the price in so many ways, should not be forgotten. Those who have worn the uniform in the war on terrorism should not be forgotten.

While the event was tragic, it shouldn't be remembered as solely a tragedy. The goodwill of so many Americans who rushed to help those affected by the attacks is often overlooked due to the focus on the lives lost and political feuds. But this still leaves the question: How should it be remembered?

Here is what some Americans are doing:

On Sept. 11, Jacob Sundberg of San Antonio has pledged to make eye contact and smile at everyone he meets. Kaitlin Ulrich will bring goody baskets to the police and fire departments in and around Philadelphia. And 100 volunteers from New York – 9/11 firefighters and family members among them – are going to Groesbeck, Texas, to rebuild a house destroyed by a tornado last December.

This is a minute sampling of the hundreds of thousands of people who have pledged to memorialize those killed on 9/11 by doing something good for others.

The heroic acts of all those killed trying to save others that September morning has spawned a growing grass-roots movement. The goal is to ensure that future generations remember not just the horror of the attacks, but also the extraordinary outpouring of humanity during the days, weeks, and months that followed.

The best way? Maybe so.