There are transcendent moments in history that define a generation - for many, it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 or the day World Ward II ended where people rejoiced at the end of a long and devastating war. For others, it was that November day in Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the dream of Camelot ended, or when families huddled in front of the television in July of 1969, and watched in awe as man walked on the moon.

 

For my generation, a defining moment was the explosion of the Shuttle Challenger in 1986 when all seven crew members were killed seconds after takeoff. Fifteen years later on that sunny September morning, a new moment occurred and changed the lives of so many in profound ways - when Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

 

These moments define us - unite us, give us courage, change the course of lives, the way a country shapes its policy. While some of these events become memories, we must never forget; we must never forget the lessons they teach us.

 

As a society we all shuddered the moment the South Tower toppled, and each of us felt tremors through our entire being. But we survived; we moved forward, we pushed on as time heals all wounds, even ones as deep and raw as this one. We have progressed from the shock of having missed the seemingly obvious signs to anger about why we didn't take more notice as terrorists attacked our interests abroad in Kenya and Tanzania? How did we not see this coming after watching the attacks on the U.S.S. Cole or more importantly, the first attack on the World Trade Center itself? How did we not notice people attending flight schools in Florida who weren't concerned about learning how to land planes? Everyone came together and the nation refocused. We reworked our intelligence agencies and created the Homeland Security Department. We passed the Patriot Act and other laws in an attempt to ensure that we would not miss similar signals again. We all rallied around our flag, and cheered when our government agreed to take the fight to our enemies to ensure  that no nation was allowed to grant sanctuary and solace to those seeking to terrorize anymore. We warned the Taliban. When they didn't heed our warnings, nor fully comprehend our resolve, we showed them that this time was different. We were serious, and again the world learned that it is not a good idea to stoke the fires that burn in all of us Americans.

 

The repressive, fundamentalist and terrorist supporting Taliban Regime came tumbling down as a coalition of forces joined together to hunt those responsible for the attacks on our soil. We sent the message that these terrorist regimes were no longer something that we would turn a blind eye towards. As the focus of our attention shifted to Iraq (and now back to Afghanistan again) we have seen both ups and downs in our attempt to stabilize and liberate this historically difficult region. What hasn't waned, however, is the dedication and resolve of the men and women who seek to serve their nation and participate in this fight. They believe in the goals and understand the stakes better than any of us, as they have been on the ground in all of the places we discuss in the safe confines of our local Starbucks.

 

These mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers are all out there fighting in conditions we can't even imagine. They put their lives in danger every day to ensure that we never have to watch as our friends and families, colleagues or neighbors face the unimaginable choice of either dying in a burning building or jumping from the top of a sky scraper. To them, we all owe a sincere thank you.

 

Today many of us at home are questioning why and how we are fighting, are we winning or losing? As a society this is a good thing as it shows we are through the stages of grief post 9/11. As a nation I have to question; are we glossing over the hard learned lessons? Healthy debate is a good thing and should be encouraged, however these are universal facts that are still being debated and it's time we accepted them. The goal of terrorists is to terrorize and no matter what happens there will always be some people that feel this is a viable way to achieve their goals.

 

As a nation, it is the job of our leaders to ensure that our citizens are not targets of this method and any attempts at it are met with painful reminders that this is not to be tolerated. People want to live in an open society but when the stakes are raised by the availability of more sophisticated weapons the importance of diligence, thorough examinations of intelligence and effective means of gathering intelligence are more important than ever.

 

As Americans, we are now looking to recover from the economic collapse and put in place measures to protect us from a similar occurrence in the future. Let us not forget we have had other even more expensive lessons and renew our efforts to learn from them. Economics and healthcare are today's buzz words. We need to ensure that we don't focus solely on the issues that affect our lives today; instead we need to focus on everything that can affect our lives tomorrow. While we have been spared any other attacks in the last 8 years, does anyone doubt that should we become victims again it would be more painful? How many of the lessons we should have learned in 2001 will we be able to say that we are still being vigilant with in 2009 or 2010? After all, there are still men and women risking their lives 8 years later for this cause. How sad would it be if we weren't willing to at least remember why they were risking their lives by fighting for something that history has already moved past?

 

Chris Meek

Stamford, CT