Published by the Chicago Tribune on September 9, 2011
Remember 9/11
September 11, 2001. Wow, it's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since that tragedy. I remember the horror I felt when I realized New York was under attack as the World Trade Center turned into rubble. I also remember how we came together as a nation and picked up the pieces. We held on tighter to each other. There was resurgence in American patriotism. It became hard to buy an American flag because the stores were sold out. Our leaders united and worked through their differences. There was a drastic change in this country. We all cared about our nation and our fellow Americans. We cast aside our differences and prayed together as a nation.
Ten years have passed and everything has changed. Try spotting an American flag on anything other than a government building. We lost the compassion we had for one another. The government is not reaching across the aisle. If anything, we are more divided now than we were before September 11, 2001. I don't remember ever seeing our leadership as polarized as it is today. We have a president who refuses to work with Congress and demands they work with him, and a Congress that refuses to work with the president and demands he works with them. Instead of uniting, we are clanging our cymbals loudly. We have divided into subgroups and each group has become entrenched. We are all yelling so loudly that no one can hear what everyone else is saying.
We need to change. We need to be united once again. This is the United States of America, isn't it? I encourage everyone to remember who we are. Get a flag and put it in your yard. Help out a neighbor or friend. Hug your family. Look past your differences and spend time with others -- get to know who they are and take time to listen to them. Finally, pray for our country and that our leadership will come together to do what is best for the people of this great nation. God bless America.
-- Timothy McSwain, Herrin
chicagotribune.com
September 11, 2001. Wow, it's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since that tragedy. I remember the horror I felt when I realized New York was under attack as the World Trade Center turned into rubble. I also remember how we came together as a nation and picked up the pieces. We held on tighter to each other. There was resurgence in American patriotism. It became hard to buy an American flag because the stores were sold out. Our leaders united and worked through their differences. There was a drastic change in this country. We all cared about our nation and our fellow Americans. We cast aside our differences and prayed together as a nation.
Ten years have passed and everything has changed. Try spotting an American flag on anything other than a government building. We lost the compassion we had for one another. The government is not reaching across the aisle. If anything, we are more divided now than we were before September 11, 2001. I don't remember ever seeing our leadership as polarized as it is today. We have a president who refuses to work with Congress and demands they work with him, and a Congress that refuses to work with the president and demands he works with them. Instead of uniting, we are clanging our cymbals loudly. We have divided into subgroups and each group has become entrenched. We are all yelling so loudly that no one can hear what everyone else is saying.
We need to change. We need to be united once again. This is the United States of America, isn't it? I encourage everyone to remember who we are. Get a flag and put it in your yard. Help out a neighbor or friend. Hug your family. Look past your differences and spend time with others -- get to know who they are and take time to listen to them. Finally, pray for our country and that our leadership will come together to do what is best for the people of this great nation. God bless America.
-- Timothy McSwain, Herrin
chicagotribune.com
