It’s been 21 years. Many are still processing turning Afghanistan over to the Taliban just one year ago. It’s not going to get better.
There were 2996 immediate deaths on September 11th, 2001. There were people who cheered that day, celebrating an attack on America. I will never forget them. I will never forgive them. Two decades later, I see members of our government trivialize the events of that day, desecrating the dead with their comments. Two decades and America forgets its dead, abandoning its mission.
Regardless of which way the political winds blow, I remain a patriot. But in a greater sense, I will also always honor those from other nations who stood with us on that day and throughout the ensuing decades of conflict. After all, there were victims from 90 countries on 9/11. A sick ideology attacked the world and despite our efforts, it lives on, dug in like a tick.
The crisis remains. Every year we lose more and more to that fateful day. Victims and rescuers alike suffer life threatening medical conditions due to the exposure to toxins during the attacks and continue to succumb to these lingering wounds. As a country, we must stand by them.
Even now, the world is faced with the continued threat of Islamic fundamentalism that targets our ideals in both word and deed. We must oppose them in every case, lest our efforts thus far, be in vain.
Never Forgive, Never Forget