God forbid America ever suffers another 9/11. But what I wouldn’t give for another 9/12and the days immediately following.
If you are reading these words, it’s likely you’re among roughly 65% of theAmerican population who will weep on the 25th anniversary of that awful day. We remember, alltoo well, the harrowing statistics as the carnage unfolded:
∎ Four hijacked airliners.
∎ Nineteen members of the terrorist group al-Qaida who piloted them on suicide missions.
∎ Four hell-on-earth crashes: one each into, and subsequentially collapsing, the South andNorth Towers of World Trade Center in New York City; one into the west side of the Pentagonin Arlington, Virginia.; one into a Pennsylvania field after brave passengers fought the monsters anddeep-sixed
the plane short of its intended target, either the U.S. Capitol or the White House.
∎ A total of 2,996 people killed that day alone, including those on the airplanes, workers inthe Twin Towers, everyday folks on the street, firefighters, police officers, Port Authority staff,military personnel and civilians at the Pentagon.
∎ Untold numbers of slow deaths in the ensuing years among firefighters and lawenforcement officers, first responders, media members and others near those scenes ofdestruction who continually breathed toxic air.
Remember my reference above to 65% of Americans with vivid memories of 9/11?
According to the Census Bureau, that leaves 35% of Americans alive today, some120,750,000 of them, who know about 9/11 only from history books and family stories. They nomore experienced the horrors of that day than the rest of us experienced the Civil War.
They don’t have firsthand knowledge of how the entirety of America came together asthe initial shock began to sink in.
They weren’t around to watch, live on TV, as members of the U.S. House and Senate —Republicans, Democrats, Independents — joined hands on the Capitol steps, sobbed, prayed andsang “God Bless America.”
They have no memory of how millions of us, Maine to Hawaii, Alaska to Florida and allpoints between, did the same in churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and other houses ofworship. Or waited in long lines to donate blood. Or ferried untold tons of food and water toshelters. Or saw grief-stricken families of the missing post photos of their loved ones inemergency rooms and on every tree, bus stop, bench and utility pole in New York, franticallyhoping for good news. Any news.
All they know firsthand is the hatred, distrust, lies, political division and wars ever since. In the long run, that may be the worst tragedy of all.
Sam Venable’s column appears every Sunday. Contact him at sam.venable@outlook.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Newer generations weren’t around to recall terror of 9/11 | Sam Venable
