9/11 was a horrible, horrible moment in American history...?

Question

...by no means should it be forgotten. However, there are other events in our history--such as Pearl Harbor--that we don't "commemorate" in the same manner as 9/11. There are parades, maybe, a little commentary on TV or in newspapers. But we hear about 9/11 every single day and so much effort is devoted to remembering, commemorating, the events of that day. A lot more people may have died on 9/11 but even 1 death is too much and we should not determine that what one event is more important that the other based on the number of people killed.

At what point will we ever stop putting so much focus on 9/11? It's harder to go forward when you're stuck in the past so much. Also, by focusing on 9/11 so much, aren't we just showing the terrorists just how much they affected and hurt us? Aren't we showing that we're psychologically weak and traumatized and scared which is what the terrorists wanted in the first place?

BTW, my husband lost a friend (a former boss) in the Pentagon attack on 9/11, so please don't accuse me of being unsympathetic to those who lost anyone on that day.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, most people lose sight of the fact that events like Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma City (bombing) and even the Holocaust occurred. Over the years, the emotion of it just gets lost in history. 9/11 is still extremely fresh in all our minds, hearts and emotions even to this day with the reminders everyday that terrorists are out there. They pop up in the most interesting places...last place was the UK. So the reminders of 9/11 keeps the memory of it in us even into today because of the constant reminders of that day in our everyday lives. Pearl Harbor and other events, do not get such attention because there are really very few reminders of those events anymore.

I understand what you are saying though. I believe firmly we need to never forget events like I stated above; because they are just as pivotal to remember as 9/11...so we can do everything we can as a society to see it does not happen again.

Answer 2

Pearl Harbor is very much remembered by the generation that experienced it first hand. Unfortunately, that generation is dying off all too soon.

There are also fundamental differences between Pearl Harbor and 9/11. While both were unprovoked attacks, the Japanese primarily attacked the US military whereas the 9/11 attacks focused on civilians. The Japanese attacked using their military while on 9/11, it was terrorists in our midst. The Japanese were already at war and allied against those the US were helping, making the US a legitimate target, the attackers of 9/11 are not a nation and can't make any such legitimate claim.

And these are just a start.

Answer 3

The reason you still hear about 9/11 every day is because this is a political football for the Bush administration to continue to say you are not a "real" American if you go against his war and his war crimes.

It is constantly pointed to to show how in need we are of the dictatorship that our government is becoming, and lied about in that they still claim they did not have fore-knowledge to take any action. (This has to be a lie as less than five minutes from the impact on the World Trade Center every news station in America had not only mug shots but complete profiles on every single terrorist that was involved for their telecasts. For that to have been available is a clear indication the government had that fore-knowledge and could have acted.)

What 9/11 did is cause Nationalist Fundamentalists to take a firm grip upon the country where they have thrived since. While there is finally some sanity returning to some of the population, they still hesitate when the fundies point to the 9/11 tragedy and say this will happen again if we don't allow the present administration to continue to erode away our constitutional rights, our civil liberties, and sure to be our fault when it does because we oppose the violations of our own laws by Bush and his cronies.

It is also pointed to as the point at which because of their illegal activities, we have had no incidents of terrorism since.. which they equate to them being successful. This is absurd but no one seems to notice. The absence of further attacks is not indicative of their success in prevention. That is like saying the absence of more earthquakes in California is a clear indication that the new building codes are working to stop earthquake damage.

The emotional impact of 9/11 is such that it causes most who think themselves decent Americans to pause rather than act to stop the maniac in power in this country.

I refer you to a blog that touches upon much of this at http://silvaspoon.blogspot.com/

Other good sources for less bias news are The Guaridan (formerly the Manchester Guardian) The Christian Science Monitor, and the Utne Reader.

Answer 4

Very interesting, articulate, well though out question.
Unfortunately not based in reality as we know it.

Outside of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, not in the history of the world has such an act of violence been perpetrated on a civilian populace - not specifically in terms of a body count - but the scope, ramifications and aftermath as well.
It is not something to be remembered with a parade once a year.

More importantly, it signified the definite beginning of an onslaught on America - by a suicidal, apocalyptical and irrational enemy bent on world destruction.

The animals that struck America on 9/11 DID traumatize and scare us, so the way to go forward and put it all behind us, is to stop wasting time and destroy every one of them.

Answer 5

So do you think 5 years after Pearl Harbor people said we remember this to much. I disagree so much, we don't see enough or hear enough about WHO blew up our people. When was the last time you saw the video of the world trade center being hit and falling down. Have you seen any video of the celebration in the Middle East on 9-11 What about the video of people jumping to there deaths because of the fire s on that day. So NO we don't talk about it to much. Where do you want to go forward too? It sounds to me like you want to move your head into the sand and pretend it never happened or at least could never happen again. I hope it won't but I won't bet my LIFE on it

I do agree we should remember events like Pearl Harbor and the sacrifices of our Service People that secure our freedoms

Answer 6

I think there's so much press because the terrorists are still coming up with methods to kill Americans. People are frightened.
It's still like an opened wound to most Americans. It was so hard to believe that a country as great as ours could be attacked by these so & so's. Also, we are at war with the terrorists and until we get them under the jail there's always a chance it could happen in our country again. We must never forget that day.

Answer 7

in the future we will forget,but as long as the terriosts are loose we won't feel 100%safe on the annniversary of 9/11. for me it's not hard to move forward because life goes on to be happy again and not sad. us focusing on 9/11 does show how much we're affected but it helps to get through with it so it doesn't hurt anymore. tramatized and scared, it shows. but weak is what people feel about an attack on an other country. it is upsetting so we should not worry about looking tough,just think about the tragedy and your own personal loss. they would know you're suffering anyway.

Answer 8

Pearl Harbor and WWII are over. The war that started on 9/11 is far from over. If we allow ourselves to forget that, we are presenting our throats to the Islamists.

Answer 9

My memories (from a distant place) on a day I shall never forget:

11 September 2001.

Tuesday 11 September 2001 will go down in history as one of the most disastrous days in American History, second only to the day the American Civil War began.

Comparisons will be made with the attack on Pearl Harbour, but I believe that the contrast fails as the latter was committed against Military personnel and not the general public or in fact the financial sector of the American economy.

My wife Rosheen and I were on our way to Brighton from our home in South Woodford to see my son Peter at about 1pm and listening to the news on the car radio. The story began as a ‘plane crash’ into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. A few minutes later, or so it seemed, the news continued that what was believed to be a reporter’s aeroplane had crashed into the second tower and both buildings were now on fire. I had seen the twin towers on television many times and knew the size of them. It was now obvious that this was a major disaster.

As we continued on our journey, the story became more confused with various suggestions being given as to what had in fact happened. It was obvious that a great many people were trapped in both buildings and that the death toll would be great.

The news worsened as we continued on our way, the journey to Brighton taking an hour and a half. On our arrival at Peter’s home, I immediately turned on the television news and watched in horror at what was going on. Without warning, a sequence of the most horrific destruction was shown. It was a recording of the second aircraft crashing into the second tower. I was dumbfounded.

As I watched in horror, it could be seen that things were only going to get worse. The Pentagon was the next to have an aeroplane crashed into it and a wing of the building was on fire. The aircraft involved had been hijacked in Boston and flown to New York. Further reports of more hijacking of aircraft were being reported.

It was now a major disaster of gigantic proportions. It was so hard to believe that it was all fact and not just a sequence of Die Hard or a Schwartsneggar film with Bruce Willis or Arnie expected to appear at any minute. However this was true with people dying in front of our eyes. People were reported to be jumping from windows at a great height surely with the knowledge that they would be killed.

About two hours after the fires began both towers collapsed in on themselves killing and trapping innumerable people, including police, fire and ambulance attendants. The sight was surreal and unbelievable.

President Bush appeared on T.V. and it was obvious that he was greatly shocked. I believe that he will reek mass destruction on anyone whom he believes to be in any way responsible. Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, who was due to address the TUC conference in Brighton, did not make his expected speech. Instead he spoke of the disaster. He too was in great shock and I felt that he had spoken to Bush who warned him of the consequences and this shocked him even more.

Answer 10

I agree. Did you see the stat about 30% of Americans not knowing what year the attacks took place? I think that's horrible, esp. when people are running around screaming "we won't forget" merely as a political ploy...