by Martin Jacobs

Created on: January 29, 2009

Is the emotional impact of 9/11 as strong now as it was seven years ago?

In every generation there are dates that we remember. I suppose what dates you remember depends on what your priorities are. For my father's generation it was December 7, 1941. For me it will always be September 11, 2001.

There have been days throughout history that people remember. They remember where they were when they heard or got the news about some significant event in their life. I'm sure it was much the same for people in the nineteenth century. People probably remembered where they were when they got the news that Fort Sumter had been fired upon or when President Lincoln was shot.

For many I'm sure they remembered where they were on October 28, 1929 when the stock market crashed. Or November 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy was assassinated.

My dad used to tell me that he was sitting in his family's living room listening to the radio with his parents and siblings when they heard the news about Pearl Harbor. He was working in a shop behind our house when President Kennedy was killed.

Whatever the date or significance of it is we remember them, for whatever reasons they strike our memory with surprising strength. We remember the times in our lives that impact us. Many people will never forget where they were or what they were doing when Elvis died or when a plane crashed and killed two members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. They remember when the Beatles hit America. They remember where they were when their children were born or when their parents passed away; dates that live on in their memories.

This day will live on in the memories of this generation as long as we stand alive. We suffered through the fires and explosions that occurred together. We watched as news cameras covered the aftermath of planes crashing into two of the largest buildings in the world and cried with the families of those who lost loved ones. We sat in shock as we got the news that one of our symbols of national defense was attacked. We listened in horror and admiration as we learned about a plane that was crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside. It was aimed at the White House, the center of our government, but due to the heroism of a few brave people who knew they would die in the attempt it missed its target. Let us remember those who perished not only during these attacks but those who died in the aftermath and those who bravely gave their lives in trying to save others.

Let us never forget for those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.

Our society today is one of "What have you done for me lately?" and what happened in the last fifteen minutes it seems. Personally the emotion is as strong for me in many ways as it was in 2001. For many others it doesn't seem to be quite as strong. The economic stress that seven years of war has put on our country has caused many to, if not forget then at least put 9/11 on the "back burner" of their mind. Unfortunately many HAVE forgotten why we are where we are today. I don't mean this to be a political statement but I suppose there's no way around it is there?

I believe that for many though, the emotional impact of 9/11 is as strong today as it was then, especially those who lost loved ones in the attacks on that day. Those loved ones will never be forgotten and that day shouldn't be either. It was a momentous day in our nation's history and in the personal lives of everyone, whether or not we lost someone that day or not.

Just something to think about.

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