It’s so easy to become complacent.
With everything going on in our lives, in our nation and in our world, it’s easy to fill our thoughts with something — anything — else, really.
As time goes by, it’s easy to feel, well, safe.
Is it really time to think about 9/11 again? Do we really have to?
Yes, yes it is. And yes, yes we absolutely do.
It is time to think about that infamous day 16 years ago Monday when airliners were used as guided missiles to attack symbols of prosperity and power in our country.
It is time to remember.
Really, could you ever forget the thousands of fellow Americans who died that day in New York as the twin towers fell? Or in Arlington, Virginia, as the Pentagon took a direct hit, even though it wasn’t the likely target. Or in a field in Pennsylvania as the passengers on one of the hijacked planes stood up and said enough already, forcing the terrorists’ hand before they could reach whatever their intended target was even though it cost all of them their lives.
Don’t you remember the pictures? The horrible pictures?
People throwing themselves out of buildings 100 stories high because they preferred that death to the flames sweeping through the towers from the burning jet fuel. The towers coming down on top of not only those trying to escape, but the brave first responders who were running into the buildings to try and get as many people to safety as they could. One side of the Pentagon gone? The massive crater caused by the jet that basically disintegrated on impact it was traveling at such a high rate of speed?
Do you remember how you felt as you wondering, when would this stop? What was going to happen next? What should you do to protect yourself and your family from whatever that might be?
If you haven’t lately, now is the time.
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, has been killed, and to some degree there is reason to take comfort in the head being cut off of that snake. Unfortunately, bin Laden has plenty of his minions and other like-minded terrorists who want to continue his effort to destroy our way of life.
Just look at what the Islamic State and others do to Americans and Christians. The pleasure they take in murdering innocent people and broadcasting it all over the world. While we figure out new ways to try and stop them, they figure out new ways to kill in a dance with the devil that, frankly, may never end.
So as 9/11 approaches, let us honor those who have fallen in those initial attacks and in the war on terror that followed.
Let us be mindful there is still much work to do to before we can truly feel safe due to the enemy’s commitment.
Most of all, let us remember.
Patrick Graham is the owner of The Covington News. His email address is pgraham@covnews.com.
