Honor the memory of 9/11
Cooper Olson ’26
Twenty-two years ago, America made a promise: a promise to NEVER FORGET the atrocities of September 11, 2001. When looking back now, however, we all need to ask ourselves the same question: Have we forgotten?
Consider the unprecedented way in which the nation united immediately following the horrendous terrorist attacks. People of all faiths crowded into any house of worship they could find, regardless of its denomination; all that mattered in the moment were the nearly 3,000 innocent souls robbed of a full life thanks to the attacks. Similarly, Ground Zero became a gathering place not just for mourners, but also for hopeful leaders who saw a path to rebuild both the physical and spiritual destruction wrought on the nation.
The question then becomes: how have we lived up to this? Many of my peers and I were shocked by the lack of focus or even mention of the attacks on this September 11th throughout the school day. For me personally, the only time it was brought up in a class was a yes or no question regarding whether we knew what had happened twenty-two years earlier. Even President Biden seems to have forgotten; this year he became the first president to not visit one of the memorial sites to the attacks on their anniversary. Thus, 9/11 remembrance has been almost entirely relegated to lukewarm reposts of an American flag with the caption, “NEVER FORGET” on peoples’ Instagram stories.
There is, however, a bright spot. We have an opportunity to change this trajectory we’re currently on, and it begins with educating those of us who weren’t alive or have no personal recollection of the events on September 11th, 2001. There’s a difference between knowing what took place and hearing someone’s personal experience, and these experiences need to be taught so that we may understand the magnitude of the effects these attacks had on the world. Additionally, Strake Jesuit should become more involved on an official level, whether that’s in the form of a memorial mass, special prayer, moment of silence, or even some kind of presentation. It takes a lot from many people to truly remember, but there are also many out there willing to put in a lot which is why there is hope that we may still NEVER FORGET.
MAGIS 