At some point in every year’s 9/11 ceremonies, it feels to some of us like it all just happened yesterday — then we realize some of those reading the names are the grandchildren of those lost that horrible morning.
And ever more of us are those grandchildren, or are at least young enough that 9/11 isn’t memory, but history.
On this 24th anniversary, the generation now entering adulthood at best can join us in reflecting on a day that changed America’s very DNA, in grieving and in honoring the heroes.
Most of Gen Z wasn’t yet born.
Those who lived through it have a duty — to the past and the future — to share memories embedded deep in the bones.
The confusion after the first plane hit the North Tower at 8:46, then the panic and dread as the second plane crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 and we all realized America was under attack.
The choking pale dust filling the streets of Lower Manhattan; the silent crowds on sidewalks and roofs, watching in terrible shock; the jammed (if not downed!) phone lines as millions tried to contact loved ones.
Then the weeks with Downtown closed off amid frantic rescue, and then recovery, efforts at Ground Zero; defiant reopening of the Stock Exchange amid the ongoing grieving of a scarred city; the funerals and the walls of “missing” posters.
The nation lost nearly 3,000, each beloved by somebody — fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, friends and partners, all lives altered forever.
New York and the nation met the unspeakable evil of that day face-on with defiant goodness.
The Flight 93 passengers charging the cockpit; Morgan Stanley security chief Rick Rescorla getting 2,700 workers out.
Stephen Siller running two miles to the World Trade Center to join his FDNY brethren in the rescue efforts . . . 343 of them lost after fearlessly rushing into danger.
More than two decades on, none of the survivors are young: Aging is one reason the tally of first responders and others diagnosed with cancers considered to be linked to 9/11 reached 48,579, up 143% in five years.
We must keep the memory of all of it — the sorrows and joys, the scars and the lessons — alive and vivid for future generations.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum, where Americans of all ages can learn about the events and reflect on the sacrifices made at Ground Zero, is more essential than ever; mismanagement and misappropriation is intolerable.
We cannot let 9/11’s horror or heroism fade into shadow.
Every anniversary, and in times in between, remember what we lost, and what we must preserve.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
