EDITORIAL: Remembrance, and resolve (09/15/02)

EDITORIAL

Remembrance, and resolve

No one in America could help but be moved by the scenes on our television screens of memorial ceremonies dedicated to the victims and heroes of 9/11.

Broadcasts from New York showed grief-stricken family members and loved ones walking down into a hole where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood to place tributes, mementos and offerings to the 2,801 killed on that very spot. It was almost too much to bear. In Washington the mood was somewhat celebratory as the ceremony marked the reconstruction of the Pentagon - its rising from the ashes of 9/11 (in fact, it is known as the Project Phoenix Site). The quick rebuilding of the center of America's power served for many as a tangible manifestation of America's resolve. And in Shanksville, Pa., local residents along with family members of the 40 people killed aboard Flight 93, gathered together to pay tribute to a group that was referred to as the first citizen-soldiers in America's war on terrorism. "In a field in rural Pennsylvania, right prevailed over wrong, and hope was born again," said Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor who now is the president's adviser on domestic security.

September 11, 2002, was a day to focus on the heroes of September 11, 2001, both dead and alive: the firefighters and police officers who went above and beyond the call of duty, the people who sacrificed their own safety to help others at a time of crisis. It was a day to recall the passengers of Flight 93, ordinary people who became extraordinary when they took charge in a heroic act above the skies of Pennsylvania and will forever be remembered in the phrase "Let's roll."

In addition to the moving commemorations held at Ground Zero, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, there were countless local ceremonies attended by Americans of all ethnic backgrounds, of all faiths, from all walks of life, of all ages. On September 11, 2002, our country was united, perhaps like never before.

As President George W. Bush put it in his address to the nation: "In the ruins of two towers, under a flag unfurled at the Pentagon, at the funerals of the lost, we have made a sacred promise, to ourselves and to the world: we will not relent until justice is done and our nation is secure. What our enemies have begun, we will finish."

President Bush also issued a message of thanks to all the nations of the world. "On behalf of all Americans, I thank the millions of people from every nation who share our grief over the loss of innocent life, and who share our resolve to lift the dark cloud of terror from our world," he stated. And he reassured people around the globe: "We have a chance to write a new and hopeful chapter in human history, a story of courage defeating cruelty and light overcoming darkness. This calling is worthy of any life, and of every nation. So let us go forward confident, determined and unafraid. Together we will face the peril of our moment, and we will seize the promise of our times."

It has been said repeatedly that the post 9/11 world is different. Indeed, in a flash the entire world had changed. But in the wake of this terror came a new cooperation and a new determination to fight evil. Thus, it is clear to all the world that - though our losses are immeasurable - the terrorists did not win on 9/11.

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