Looking Back Twenty Five Years, 9/11 Taught Us About Unity We’ve Since Forgotten

There is so much being said and written about the 25^th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives on that day and more than that in the years since.  There is little I could add but I want to take you back to the 3^rd anniversary of a day that changed America forever. In 2004 I did a “Hometown View” that would later win a broadcasters award and 22 years later I find it very sad that so much of what I said is still very true today.  Here are some of those words.

If there was anything positive that came out of 9/11 it was our willingness to not only unite but to understand the little obstacles we often face in life are just that…little. We began putting things in proper perspective and for a period of time did not take things like family, friends and health for granted.  We also showed tolerance and patience for one another and it was nice to see people going out of their way for strangers. 

Well three years later I believe that spirit has disappeared and we are now back to the way things used to be.  It’s that “me me” philosophy all over again and the warmth and fuzziness of post 9/11 America has been replaced by looking out for #1.  Why is it that we needed a tragedy to remind ourselves that while we are all different…we are also the same?  Why can’t the good feelings we had for one another regardless of race, religion or social status continue?  In some ways we are more divided now that before terrorists changed the way we live.

Maybe the answer is simple.  Americans are at their best when the chips are down…it’s at that time we come together and realize that the one thing we agree on is the red, white and blue may not be perfect…but it’s better than anywhere else. 

Those were my words in 2004…not much has changed has it?