Have We Forgotten?

It’s not enough to simply "Never Forget." Our responsibility is to actively Remember.

Today marks the 23rd anniversary of 9/11. The buzz of reflections from last night’s presidential debate risks overshadowing the somber commemoration of this national trauma. While some will pause for moments of silence, and ceremonies in NY, PA, and VA will honor those who perished and highlight the courage of those who sacrificed themselves — I choose to remember how we responded in the aftermath of the attacks.

Three NYC Fireman raising a U.S. flag at Ground Zero taken on 9/11. Credit: Thomas E. Franklin/Bergen Record

I’m a big “September 12th” guy. That’s the day we came together in unity and purpose to fight back. It’s the day we lived up to the belief that harm to one of us is harm to all of us. It’s the day that defined a generation of public servants who stepped up to serve our country.

I proudly served alongside some of the best military and intelligence officers our nation has ever assembled to take the fight to al-Qa’ida. Men and women of different ethnicities, ages, backgrounds, and political beliefs, but shared American values united together to win the great war of our time. We were driven by duty for security for all, to serve a cause greater than self, and to care about each other.

I was 20 years old on 9/11, and during this formative time of my young adult life, the events of that day and how we responded shaped my core belief in public service and what’s possible when we unite. I’ve seen it. We’ve done it. And I’m confident we can do it again.

But what disheartens me most is how some have forgotten.

In the years following 9/11, Republicans and Democrats led the charge on national security, combatting terrorism, and the defense of democracy. Yet today, many in the GOP have abandoned those ideals, embracing extremism and normalizing political violence at home. They’ve aligned with autocrats abroad, and last night, the GOP presidential candidate even refused to say if Ukraine should win the war against a belligerent, expansionist Russia. It’s a stark reversal from when we understood that a threat to freedom anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.

While this anti-democratic rot that threatens our security has spread in the GOP, some on the far left have also forgotten. I’m disturbed by those who actively support the terrorist group Hamas and by young Americans who last year expressed sympathy with Osama bin Laden’s writings.

Both extremes—driven by profiteers of division and malign foreign actors—erode the unity and purpose we built after 9/11 and betray the principles of security, democracy, and justice that most of us still believe in.

In forgetting the unity that defined us after 9/11, we risk losing what we fought for. It’s not enough to simply "Never Forget." Our responsibility is to actively Remember—in our civic duty, our respect for fellow Americans, our service to others, our defense of American values at home and abroad, and in our vote.