How Will the History Books Remember the 9/11 Generation?
Veterans of California founder Nick Busse asks how the history books will remember the generation that watched the towers fall — and why teaching September 11 still matters. Published by the California Globe.
I wonder how the history books and the students in classrooms will remember my generation. The generation that watched the towers fall from a high school history class. The generation that took a moment of silence so heavy it trembled — and out of that trembling rose a fire, a desire, a passion for country that would one day lead them to fight for their nation.
That was my question as I led myself along a copper wire to four IEDs buried under four culverts on Route Irish in Baghdad — the stretch of road so lethal it earned the title of the most dangerous in the world. And it is the same question I ask now.
On that morning, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives. Among them were 343 New York City firefighters, 37 Port Authority officers, and 23 NYPD officers who climbed the stairs of collapsing towers while everyone else was running down. In the months and years that followed, a generation of young Americans answered that same call.
This piece was published by the California Globe. Read the full story on their site.