Our View - America united

Twenty years ago Saturday, the world changed.

People in the United States and around the world watched in shock and horror as terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and a fourth plane, believed to be targeting the White House or U.S. Capitol, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew heroically overcame the hijackers.

And people watched the bravery and selflessness of the emergency responders who worked to fight the damage and save people not directly killed in the attacks.

Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks and its aftermath, including all people aboard the flights and 343 New York firefighters, 37 New York Port Authority police officers and 23 New York police officers.

And the deaths continue and thousands have been forced into retirement due to health issues stemming from the attacks and working at the crash sites.

The nation and the world was in shock, watching in disbelief.

But for a short time, Americans were united. 

Our nation would not stand for terrorists attacking us on our home soil.

The nation stood, with its allies and partners around the world, saying, never again.

Since then, the unity has dwindled. The nation has disagreed on steps and actions and the government has taken steps Americans have fought, such as surveillance on American citizens without normal due process in the name of fighting terrorism. The U.S. sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan — the impacts of which are still ongoing with Americans and allies still in Afghanistan weeks after the U.S. withdrawal in the last few months — against the opposition of some citizens.

And some Americans have lashed out at all Muslims, painting them in the same group as the extremist terrorists who set up the attacks, creating a wave of needless Islamophobia that continues to this day.

And attacks continue including on American soil, some by foreign terrorists and some by residents and citizens of the U.S. 

And wars and terrorism continue outside of the United States as well.

But the message over the weekend was not one of hatred, not one of fear, not one of divisiveness.

George W. Bush, president on Sept. 11, 2001, again gave a message of unity and hope when he spoke over the weekend, as he did after the attacks.

Bush said he saw people grab each other’s hands and move to support one another. Instead of religious bigotry, he saw American reject prejudice and embrace people of the Muslim faith. Instead of rejecting other peoples he saw Americans welcoming immigrants and refugees. And he saw countless young people in the months and years following turn to serving others and giving selfless action, Bush said.

President Joe Biden spent Saturday visiting the sites of the crashes and spending time with family members of the victims, but in a presentation Friday gave the same message.

“Unity is what makes us who we are, America at its best,” Biden said. “To me, that is the central lesson of September 11. It’s that at our most vulnerable, in the push and pull of all that makes us human, in the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength. Unity doesn’t mean we have to believe the same thing — we must have a fundamental faith in each other.”

As the nation clashes over what happened and what still needs to happen in the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan; over what needs to be done with the U.S. election process; over what history needs to be taught in our schools; over what should be or shouldn’t be in the proposed Build Back Better plan now in Congress, and countless other disputes, that is what all Americans should remember.

We all have our differences; people don’t agree on what all the government should be doing and how it should be done — but we must all be united in our cause to make the nation better.