Thirteen years on, it’s hard not to be negative on a day like today. The memories are still fresh, though perhaps finally tinged with that halo that begins to surround an intensely lived day, fresh enough that I see our nation making the same mistakes it once did, believing that somehow it can get away with this time things no nation ever has.

None of this should really be a surprise for anyone who has paid attention to history. It is almost if history curses great nations to make such mistakes. It is almost if history demands people ignore what they once knew with such intensity.

Yet, I have not forgotten, nor will I. I remember the nearly 3,000 people who died because a cancerous ideology declared death to America. I have not forgotten that the war America’s enemies–the world’s enemies–declared is one they have been fighting for a very long time and will fight for a very long time more. I have not forgotten that my nation needs me, once as a soldier and now as a citizen.

I have not forgotten. Look around you. Have you?

Dennis L Hitzeman

11 September 2014