When I first set out to write this column, I had every intent of writing a straight-up “today was a success” story about the 9/11: Never Forget Memorial on Bascom Hill yesterday. While the memorial was a great success and did its job helping students and community members remember the tragic events of seven years ago, I must say I was a little upset by the Herald’s so-called coverage of the event. Not only was the story stifled by the front page headline about UW football games, but I was also quite perturbed by some of the comments featured in the preview story yesterday.
When I talked to Kevin Bargnes, campus editor for the Herald, he asked the typical questions — Where is the memorial? Why are we doing it? When does the service start? Then he asked something that truly shocked even me. He asked if there is a time when the memorials are going to stop, citing that there are no longer memorials for “events like Pearl Harbor and the assassination of JFK.”
To think there will come a time when we are so far removed from one of the most important events of our lives as not to remember and memorialize the loved ones lost is a devastating thought. My response was the lack of remembrance for such events is a shame, and I stand by that. While it may be a little difficult to put flags out on Bascom Hill in the middle of winter in the state of Wisconsin, I can assure you that Dec. 7, 1941 sticks out in my mind just as Sept. 11 does and has not been forgotten. Certainly not by me and hopefully not by you. There are students and faculty and staff here at UW who lost friends and family in the attacks, and to assume there will come a day when they’ve forgotten is a huge misstep.
Tragedies like Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor are not just attacks on Americans. They are attacks on our very way of life and our means of democracy. To forget them is to say they don’t matter. And to say an assault on our freedom doesn’t matter is flat-out disgusting. These events don’t simply affect those who were in New York or the Pentagon; they don’t even solely extend to U.S. citizens. These events have shaped the way the world operates and to say we should stop remembering only adds insult to injury.
We are the “9/11 Generation” whether we want to be or not. New York City may seem like a thousand miles away from Madison and, in reality, it is. But on Sept. 11, 2001, it was home. When those planes hit the Twin Towers, they struck the heart of every man, woman and child in this country. Something like that — something that fosters such community spirit and love of nation — cannot be forgotten just because seven years have passed.
Sara Mikolajczak ([email protected]) is chair of the University of Wisconsin College Republicans.
