It’s inevitable that with time, the wounds inflicted Sept. 11, 2001, on unsuspecting families and an unsuspecting nation will be felt acutely by fewer and fewer people.
In fact, a Monmouth University poll last month found that a decreasing percentage of New Jersey voters “regularly” thinks about the attacks while an increasing percentage thinks about them “occasionally’' or “rarely.”
Yet for those directly affected by the murder that day of nearly 3,000 people from all walks of life, or those who watched the terror unfold in person and on TV, the pain is undoubtedly still raw 20 years later.
It’s like battle scars, someone said. Survivors, witnesses and those left behind may feel akin to shellshocked, disbelieving still. Even now, they may not be able to talk much about the day or can’t bring themselves to visit the reflecting pools at Ground Zero. Some can’t even bring themselves to look at the blue beacons that rise in stunning silent tribute from the site annually to commemorate the lives lost.
Collectively, though, it’s important that we continue to pause and reflect on the loss, to honor the heroism and sacrifice, to take inspiration from the spirit of unity in tragedy’s aftermath, to learn from the events, and to marvel at the resilience of individuals and communities.
Every year at this time, we hear stories from the day, some new to us, others familiar. With a milestone anniversary this year, the number of personal experiences being told has been magnified. FDNY members going up the stairs of the World Trade Center to their deaths. A flotilla of ferries and pleasure craft evacuating hundreds of thousands of frightened people from New York to Jersey City and other Hudson County waterfronts. A Secaucus school teacher bringing the story of the miracle “Survivor Tree’' into his art classes so that a new generation can take lessons from the day.
The Jersey Journal focuses today on the stories of six men and women whose lives were forever changed on 9/11 – not only those who lost family members that day, but also those who amid tragedy heard and heeded a call to service. That call led them – some right away, some years later – to help with triage and evacuations, join the armed forces, or become one of Jersey City’s first Muslim police officers.
Two qualities that shine through their stories – and those of countless others – are selflessness and hope. They show us that when tested, the human spirit can and does rise.
We also look back today, in words and photos, to 9/11 as we experienced it in Hudson County, capturing a measure of the breadth of the fear, loss and reflexive instinct to help felt here.
The deaths of Osama bin Laden and others responsible for the attacks, combined with the possibility of key 9/11 documents being declassified under an executive order by President Biden, bring some justice for the lives lost and renewed hope to prevent future attacks.
For today, though, we in Hudson County, metro New York and the entire nation rightly focus on the personal.
Never forget.
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