Daily Herald editorial

As Sept. 11 comes and goes today, we urge residents to take a moment to reflect on the tragedy of 9/11, and the message behind Patriot Day.

It has been 12 years since 19 Al Qaeda operatives hijacked four commercial planes to fly them into various national monuments. Many of us can remember the time and the place where we heard the news that terrorists flew a plane into a World Trade Center tower in New York. In the end, almost 3,000 people died because of the attacks.

Since then, our country has undeniably changed. We have gone to war in Iraq and put soldiers in Afghanistan. We have declared a war on terrorism and we have killed Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda’s leader.

Our leaders created Patriot Day in October 2001, to serve as a day of remembrance for the fallen and an opportunity to consider our nation’s history. Yet we have not always done so. Today, many of us seem wrapped up in our political squabbles. Our nation’s issues loom large as liberals and conservatives have deadlocked on many policies, and have prevented government from accomplishing even basic tasks such as raising the debt ceiling.

Yet our leaders, and our residents, should take a moment today to consider the immense changes that have taken place in our country since that 2001 day. We should take a moment on this, the National Day of Service and Remembrance, to think of and recognize the sacrifices we have made to stand as a nation, and to remember the rights bestowed upon us that others have fought for. We as a country are defined by much more than the 9/11 attacks, and we could do with a lesson in unity and respect for our nation, for our soldiers and our citizens.

So take the time today to remember not only 9/11, but our nation’s other struggles great and small. If 9/11 did nothing else, it united our nation behind a common cause, and we would do well to remember our unity. We are, first and foremost, U.S. citizens, and we should take the day to remember why we find that so important.