By Christopher Moore
We swore we would never forget. Every year we say it. We post the pictures, we share the memories, we fly the flags at half mast. But I think deep down we already did. Not the horror. Not the images. Not the fire raining down or the people running through clouds of ash. We did not forget the pain. What we forgot was the one thing that mattered most. We forgot American unity.
I remember September 11th like it was yesterday. I remember how gut wrenching it was to watch innocent people murdered because of ignorant ideology. It was hatred and violence played out on the biggest stage in the world. And it changed the trajectory of my life. I hated it so much that I went to war for it. Like many others I put on a uniform and I carried the weight of that day on my back into places most people will never see.
Back then there was something powerful in the air. In the days after, we were not Democrats or Republicans. We were not divided into classes or regions. We were not obsessing over skin color or religion or who we voted for. We were simply Americans. For once in a long time we remembered what it felt like to stand shoulder to shoulder with our neighbors. We remembered how strong we are when we are together. We swore that day to never let that feeling slip away.
And yet here I sit twenty four years later. I am watching people murdered again over ignorant ideology. Only this time the enemy is not hiding in caves overseas. This time it is us. We are the ones destroying each other. We are the ones poisoning our own nation with hate and division. We are the root cause now.
That is the real tragedy. Not only the lives lost but the lesson ignored. We let the unity fade. We let politics, greed, and tribalism convince us that our neighbor is our enemy. We let the loudest and most hateful voices drown out the quiet truth that we all still bleed the same red blood.
We swore we would never forget. Maybe today is the reminder that we desperately need. Not just to remember the fire and the smoke. Not just to remember where we were when the towers fell. But to remember how we came together after. To remember that unity is possible if we choose it. To remember that America is at its best when America is one.
And here is the truth no one wants to hear. If we keep going the way we are now, we will not need outside enemies to destroy us. We will do it ourselves. We will crumble from within.
So I am asking you. Remember what we swore. Remember what we felt. Remember what we are capable of when we stand as one. Put down the hate. Shut out the noise. Look your neighbor in the eye and remember that they are not your enemy. If we do not choose unity right now, then one day soon we will look back and realize we lost America without a single foreign attack.
We swore we would never forget. Stand up. Remember. Choose unity. Or lose everything.
-The Gun Loving Hippie Dad … Who Fixes Stuff
Keep reading
When War Comes Full Circle
How the aftermath of September 11 shaped military service.
We the People
The unity we still practice in ordinary life.
