For Those Who Don’t Remember 9/11

As memory fades and generations turn, why telling the story of 9/11—and the attacks that led up to it—matters more than ever.

On September 11, 2001, coordinated terrorist attacks claimed nearly 3,000 lives in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. For those who lived through it, 9/11 remains a defining “where were you” moment, much like the assassination of President Kennedy or the Challenger explosion. Add now 9/11. Everyone remembers where they were on ‘that day.’

World Trade Towers, New York City, September 11, 2001

Yet a growing number of Americans have no personal memory of that morning. Generations have come of age since 9/11 as history rather than lived experience. For us all, we must tell the story, remind and educate, and keep the meaning of that day alive and present.

Today, memorials honor that morning’s loss and heroism in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Last year I visited the Flight 93 National Memorial and found it especially moving. Visitors can listen to recordings of passengers’ final messages to loved ones and to the voices of air traffic controllers a…