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Most Americans tend to have a short attention span. Today's important news often is quickly overshadowed by the latest nonsense posing as news that, for some inexplicable reason, captures the nation's attention.
Some events are of such a magnitude that they remain seared in our memories, though. The attack at Pearl Harbor. Troops storming the beaches at Normandy. The fall of Saigon. And the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
For those old enough to understand what was happening that fateful day 21 years ago, when terrorists hijacked four planes -- two of them brought down the World Trade Center, one smashed into the Pentagon and the fourth crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers rose up against the terrorists -- those events will forever be imprinted in our minds.
But for many younger people -- those under, say, 25 years of age -- 9/11 is, at best, a vague recollection of events that seemed to shock adults around them to the core. For even younger Americans, the attack on our nation is mere history.
Ensuring the horror of that day is never forgotten is a mission a few local groups have continued under the leadership of Rabbi Joshua Lief of Temple Shalom. The annual observance to push memories of the day back to the forefront of our thoughts while also promoting a spirit of purpose and unity is set for 5 p.m. Sunday at Heritage Port in Wheeling -- the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Local faith leaders will join with police, fire and other emergency personnel, along with elected officials, to help ensure the Upper Ohio Valley never forgets the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra also will have members attend.
Lief, in a letter to his parishioners, discussed the importance of remembering the day: "When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, President Roosevelt declared that Dec. 7 was a day that would 'live in infamy,' but how many of us still experience the power of that day over 80 years later? It is up to us, the living, to remember, to uplift our neighbors, and to share with those too young to remember that it shouldn't require hate, war and death to inspire a sense of national purpose and unity."
He's exactly right. We must remember the sense of purpose and unity we had following Sept. 11, 2001. We must remember what brings us together as Americans -- not what drives us apart. We must lift one another up instead of tearing each other down. Let us come together on Sunday to start that process.