9/11: Some Say, “Always Remember,” But Many Have Already Forgotten

[mystery-ak]

September 4, 2025
9/11: Some Say, “Always Remember,” But Many Have Already Forgotten
By Robin M. Itzler

As we approach another somber September 11, you will frequently hear “always remember.” The fact is, many Americans have already forgotten.

When most Americans remember 9/11, they think about the Twin Towers collapsing after Muslim terrorists flew a plane into each building. But the 110-story Twin Towers (WTC), located in lower Manhattan, was part of a 16-acre commercial complex that contained seven buildings, a large plaza, and an underground shopping mall that connected six of the buildings.

On September 11, 2001, the entire complex was destroyed, killing 2,753 innocent people. Included in that count were 343 New York City firefighters, 23 New York City police officers, and 37 Port Authority officers. Many more people died prematurely in the years after 9/11 due to medical issues resulting from their participating in search and rescue operations.

American Airlines Flight 11 was the first plane to hit the WTC, crashing the North Tower at 8:46 AM. Everyone on the plane instantly died and those above the 91st floor were trapped.

Just a few minutes before United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 AM, passenger Brian Sweeney called his wife one final time. She was at work teaching her high school class that morning and didn’t hear the message until later in the day when she learned her husband had died.

    Jules, this is Brian. Listen, I’m on an airplane that’s been hijacked. If things don’t go well, and it’s not looking good, I just want you to know I absolutely love you. I want you to do good, go have good times. Same to my parents and everybody, and I just totally love you, and I’ll see you when you get there.

At 9:37 AM, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, instantly killing 59 passengers and crew. At the Pentagon, 125 people were murdered.

The hijacker’s original site for the fourth plane was either the White House or the U.S. Congress—the heart of our republic. Instead, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field. By then, the passengers knew what was happening and that they were going to die. Passenger Todd Beamer tried calling his wife, who was pregnant with their third child, using the plane’s Airfone. In the process, he was put through to a GTE supervisor who had the FBI listen in on the call to learn what was happening on the hijacked plane.

more
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/09/9_11_some_say_always_remember_but_many_have_already_forgotten.html

[DefiantMassRINO]

I stiil get weirded out by early September days with clear skies, no wind, and temps 75 - 85, especially if I don't see any planes in the air.

My town has a piece of steel from Ground Zero in their 9/11 memorial. One was a passenger and another was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11.

I walked from my office to the public transit parking lot where my car was because I did not want to be in the subway if the jihadis also attacked there.

After the 2nd plane hit the World Trade Center, word got out about the Pentagon being hit, and there was a rumor that a 4th plane was headed to DC to crash into the White House or the Capitol.  That was the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania when the passengers attacked their hijackers.  They knew they were already dead; the terrorists were not going to land their plane.

Everyone was getting the Hell out of the city because we did not know how many planes, total, may be involved.

I can't forget because I am too close to 9/11.  My wife's doctor lost his son on American Airlines Flight 11.

I don't want to forget.  I want to remember so I can get my Irish up when some bleeding heart Palestine sympathizers need to be Godsmacked.  I don't care for the Saudi's, the Emiraties, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

[txradioguy]

The media had been responsible for people forgetting by refusing to air the footage.

[Cyber Liberty]

People had forgotten less than 8 years later when they elected a Muslim to the White House.  "Did they forget?" holds no sway for me when NYC threatens to elect one now.

They know what they're getting, may they get it good and hard.

[DefiantMassRINO]

At least Obama got Osama bin Laden, unlike that Saudi lackey, Bush.

Bush '43 took his eye off the ball to chase a neocon wet dream of reshaping the Middle East in America's image.  The Iraq War was also a nice distraction from the hunt for bin Laden.  Took the heat off bin Laden as a favor to the Saudi's and the Emiraties.

Just as Whitey Bulger 'hid' in Santa Monica, not far from the LA FBI Office to which his patron, John Morris, transferred; Osama bin Laden conviently 'hid' near a Pakistani military and intelligence installation.

The FBI wasn't looking for Whitey.  Bush was not looking for Osama.

People had forgotten less than 8 years later when they elected a Muslim to the White House.  "Did they forget?" holds no sway for me when NYC threatens to elect one now.

They know what they're getting, may they get it good and hard.

[Cyber Liberty]

At least Obama got Osama bin Laden, unlike that Saudi lackey, Bush.

Bush '43 took his eye off the ball to chase a neocon wet dream of reshaping the Middle East in America's image.  The Iraq War was also a nice distraction from the hunt for bin Laden.  Took the heat off bin Laden as a favor to the Saudi's and the Emiraties.

Just as Whitey Bulger 'hid' in Santa Monica, not far from the LA FBI Office to which his patron, John Morris, transferred; Osama bin Laden conviently 'hid' near a Pakistani military and intelligence installation.

The FBI wasn't looking for Whitey.  Bush was not looking for Osama.

Bush broke his "no nation building" promise, that was enough for me, and O'Bastard had to be tricked into ordering the raid that took out bin Laden.

[rustynail]

“The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about.. Islam is peace."

[Cyber Liberty]

“The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about.. Islam is peace."

Sounds like Bush.  Is it?

[rustynail]

Sounds like Bush.  Is it?

The One and Only.

[MeganC]

How soon we forget.

Remember 9/11
Remember Pearl Harbor
Remember the Lusitania
Remember the Maine
Remember Fort Sumter
Remember the Alamo
Remember New Orleans
Remember Lexington and Concord

[txradioguy]

Osama bin Laden conveniently 'hid' near a Pakistani military and intelligence installation.

The Pakistani Intelligence Service...the ISI...has many of its top-ranking officials who are/were sympathetic to al Qaeda and the Taliban and provided them with intelligence and protection while we were in Afghanistan.

The fact that Bin Laden was living in an area where several former General Officers of the Pakistani Military lived tells you all you need to know about where their sympathies lay.

Bid Laden didn't have to hide...he was being protected by a country that is supposed to be our ally.

[Sighlass]

How soon we forget.

Remember 9/11
Remember Pearl Harbor
Remember the Lusitania
Remember the Maine
Remember Fort Sumter
Remember the Alamo
Remember New Orleans
Remember Lexington and Concord

Good list... if I may add one for the lurking democrats...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)

[MeganC]

Good list... if I may add one for the lurking democrats...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)

Yes! That was a perfect example of the reason why we have the 2A!!!!

[berdie]

I will never forget 9/11. The proliferation of politicians of that persuasion in our country scares the socks off of me. That people are willing to elect them, especially in NYC...

They don't have to do another attack like 9/11. They will win at the ballot box. So to the title of the article...yes, many have forgotten.

[Fishrrman]

I already "knew about islam" before the World Trade Center attacks.
But... the following works for me:

"Everything I need to know about islam, I learned on September 11, 2001".

[escapeefromtaxachusetts]

And next year on the 25th anniversary, NYC will likely have a muslim mayor overseeing the commemoration.

[Wingnut]

And next year on the 25th anniversary, NYC will likely have a muslim mayor overseeing the commemoration.

Won't be long before we have a Muzzie President.  Correction..another Muzzie President.

[Smokin Joe]

I will never forget 9/11. The proliferation of politicians of that persuasion in our country scares the socks off of me. That people are willing to elect them, especially in NYC...

They don't have to do another attack like 9/11. They will win at the ballot box. So to the title of the article...yes, many have forgotten.

I think the problem is that they don't understand Islam.

Ignorance of religion in general, and specifically Islam, is a failure.
In seeking freedom from being judged by religious standards, schools no longer teach the clear tenets of the world's religions even though those religions played major parts in shaping the world as we know it, and their presence or absence continues to affect today's politics and geopolitics.
Instead, they continue to focus on their groins.

[Timber Rattler]

Bush broke his "no nation building" promise, that was enough for me, and O'Bastard had to be tricked into ordering the raid that took out bin Laden.

And Rumsfeld made the same damned mistakes in Iraq that McNamara did with Vietnam, "hearts and minds" and all that jive.

I also remember when Condi Rice convinced Bush that elections were needed in Gaza and Pakistan (then under "ally" Musharraf).  So how'd that work out for the U.S.?

[Right_in_Virginia]

FTA

On September 11, let’s pray for the innocent people who died or were injured on that horrific day, along with those who prematurely passed away from 9/11 health-related issues. Patriots will always remember. God Bless the United States of America!

Where were and where are the patriots actually doing something tangible to prevent another attack on the US? 

[mountaineer]

And next year on the 25th anniversary, NYC will likely have a muslim mayor overseeing the commemoration.

Welcome to Bizarro World.

[Right_in_Virginia]

How soon we forget.

Remember 9/11
Remember Pearl Harbor
Remember the Lusitania
Remember the Maine
Remember Fort Sumter
Remember the Alamo
Remember New Orleans
Remember Lexington and Concord

Or ...

Remember to lock your borders
Remember to strengthen visitor, immigrant vetting and approval
Remember to identify countries hostile to the US and block visas and immigration from them
Remember to implement natural born citizen requirement for members of the Congressional and Judicial branches of government
Remember religious freedom does not include murder
Remember assimilation is a moral imperative
Remember virtue signaling is a death trap

[Free Vulcan]

The sad reality is it's been 25 years and not many under 40 have clear memories of that day, and with the crappy education system we have those too young to remember will never really learn about it.

[Polly Ticks]

The sad reality is it's been 25 years and not many under 40 have clear memories of that day, and with the crappy education system we have those too young to remember will never really learn about it.

Our local dinner theater is currently running the play "Come From Away", the story of the little Canadian town that had 38 planes diverted to their airport when all the planes were grounded on 9/11.  It doesn't necessarily talk about WHO the perpetrators of that tragedy were (other than to show how the poor Muslim guy was unfairly viewed with suspicion, of course), but I thought it did a pretty good job of showing at least some of what that time was like. The story line with the woman who was unable to get in touch with her firefighter son and then later found out that he had died in the Towers was very wrenching.

To your point, though, I think it was probably an interesting musical to the younger folks, while those of us who are old enough for 9/11 to be our "where were you?" moment had to wipe away tears a number of times.

[Free Vulcan]

To your point, though, I think it was probably an interesting musical to the younger folks, while those of us who are old enough for 9/11 to be our "where were you?" moment had to wipe away tears a number of times.

What those of us who are older don't understand is that the under-40 and particularly the under-30 crowd have been programmed with the perpetual  live-in-the-now, pedal to the floor teenage mindset. Anything over five years is considered to be getting old, 10 years is ancient history, anything before that is the Stone Age and irrelevant. It's nearly impossible for them to connect the dots and see the relevance of historical events. All that's just old stuff that needs to be forgotten for the now, and the future.

[escapeefromtaxachusetts]

Some of us haven't forgotten.
Six years ago on the second anniversary in 2003 I was in NYC and saw the Towers of Light...and put pen to paper......

Memories of 9/11

I refuse to live in fear.
I am an American.
I will travel whenever I want in this great land of ours
undeterred by the threats of others.
I will take my children to our treasured landmarks
and historical sites.
I will not retreat from an adventuresome journey
because of others with a disdain for our way of life.
It is the legacy of our forefathers who shed their blood
on battlefields throughout the world to protect
our democratic institutions.
I will show my children this country in all its majesty,
from the beauty of a Pacific sunset to the bright lights of Broadway
to the beacon held high by Lady Liberty.
I will show them Ellis Island,
the gateway to a new world with the hopes and dreams of millions.
This nation was forged by an amalgam of spirited people
who believed in self-determination.
I will not bow to those who challenge that notion.
It dishonors the memory of those who have gone before me.
I refuse to let the actions of a few destroy my will.
I will show my children the monuments to our presidents
who persevered in times of crisis and triumphed over evil.
I will show them Arlington National Cemetery
and the graves of those who fell in the defense of freedom.
I will show them a field in the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania
Where citizen soldiers fought back
and gave their lives in the latest struggle.
I have seen the horrors of that fateful day.
I have watched as flags ruffled in the breeze unbowed
as the smoke rose from the ashes.
Its pungent odor and acrid smell did not destroy our spirit.
I have heard the countless untold stories of heroism
that will stay with me forever.
To live timidly disgraces their honor.
I will keep that dream alive.
I refuse to live in fear.
I am an American.

MKK 9/11/03

[escapeefromtaxachusetts]

I was part of the forensic team that helped identify the victims and heroes of 9/11 in Western PA and later in NYC.
I wrote this after returning from Somerset County PA where Flight 93 went down.

Reflections on Freedom and Flight 93


As I stood on that mound of dirt and looked out at the Pennsylvania field that September day, I was reminded of a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that, "the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge." That recovered strip mine in Somerset County is hallowed ground, as hallowed as the beaches of Normandy, Iwo Jima, Lexington Green or the fields of Gettysburg. It was there that 40 people rose up, joined together to fight back and gave their lives. They were a cross section of America in its truest form. Young and old, married and single, Christian and Jew, straight and gay, black and white, from coast to coast and between they joined together to fight an unspeakable evil.
We'll never know how many people sleep comfortably in their beds tonight thanks to those heroic passengers. It might be your spouse or parents or your children or your nieces or nephews who might have been the intended targets of the hijackers that day. Instead, they made the ultimate sacrifice in that time of challenge.
There were other heroes that day in the Pentagon and at the World Trade Center. From all the military personnel who waded through deadly fire and smoke to rescue unknown comrades because it was the right thing to do to the police officer who died after repeatedly pulling injured survivors out of the burning tower to lead them to safety and going back in to rescue more. Then there's the fire captain who led by example reaching the 78th floor with his men in the hope of rescuing survivors only to lose his life there. I thought of the lawyer who worked in the building next to the World Trade Center who was a part time paramedic. He grabbed his emergency bag, donning a pair of gloves and while others were fleeing to safety went into harm's way to rescue others and died there.
I thought of these people as we served and felt the awesome responsibility to help identify them and bring them home to their families. It was in that time of challenge and crisis that they acted the way we all hope we would have acted. I thought of them as I drove past nearly three hundred miles of flags of every size and shape on the way back home to my family. Suddenly, the colors took on a new meaning in a much more personal way. I understand now why the red is a symbol for the blood spilled in the defense of liberty and purity of the white and the valor of the blue. The flag stands for all that is right with America and is as representative of its freedoms today as it was when first sewn over two centuries ago. When my children ask of heroes, I'll tell them of those who fell on 9/11.

[Cyber Liberty]

 

Awesome posts there!  Thanks @escapeefromtaxachusetts!!

[Free Vulcan]

The thing I remember specifically about 9/11 is while glued to the live news coverage they came on a couple of times mentioning they shut down air traffic because there were many other teams trying to board planes and crash them into landmarks that they had stopped. The Sears Tower in Chicago, Space Needle in Seattle, Denver, and Dallas if I recall were some of them.

After those mentions, nothing was ever said about that subject again.

It could have been alot worse that day.

[Timber Rattler]

The thing I remember specifically about 9/11 is while glued to the live news coverage they came on a couple of times mentioning they shut down air traffic because there were many other teams trying to board planes and crash them into landmarks that they had stopped. The Sears Tower in Chicago, Space Needle in Seattle, Denver, and Dallas if I recall were some of them.

After those mentions, nothing was ever said about that subject again.

It could have been alot worse that day.

Yeah, and there was that hijack team at Newark that didn't board their flight but then totally disappeared, and was never spoken about again.

[berdie]

Awesome posts there!  Thanks @escapeefromtaxachusetts!!

Totally agree!!

[Smokin Joe]

What those of us who are older don't understand is that the under-40 and particularly the under-30 crowd have been programmed with the perpetual  live-in-the-now, pedal to the floor teenage mindset. Anything over five years is considered to be getting old, 10 years is ancient history, anything before that is the Stone Age and irrelevant. It's nearly impossible for them to connect the dots and see the relevance of historical events. All that's just old stuff that needs to be forgotten for the now, and the future.

What future? They have been continually told the world is going to end because of Climate Change.

[Smokin Joe]

Some of us haven't forgotten.
Six years ago on the second anniversary in 2003 I was in NYC and saw the Towers of Light...and put pen to paper......

Memories of 9/11

I refuse to live in fear.
I am an American.
I will travel whenever I want in this great land of ours
undeterred by the threats of others.
I will take my children to our treasured landmarks
and historical sites.
I will not retreat from an adventuresome journey
because of others with a disdain for our way of life.
It is the legacy of our forefathers who shed their blood
on battlefields throughout the world to protect
our democratic institutions.
I will show my children this country in all its majesty,
from the beauty of a Pacific sunset to the bright lights of Broadway
to the beacon held high by Lady Liberty.
I will show them Ellis Island,
the gateway to a new world with the hopes and dreams of millions.
This nation was forged by an amalgam of spirited people
who believed in self-determination.
I will not bow to those who challenge that notion.
It dishonors the memory of those who have gone before me.
I refuse to let the actions of a few destroy my will.
I will show my children the monuments to our presidents
who persevered in times of crisis and triumphed over evil.
I will show them Arlington National Cemetery
and the graves of those who fell in the defense of freedom.
I will show them a field in the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania
Where citizen soldiers fought back
and gave their lives in the latest struggle.
I have seen the horrors of that fateful day.
I have watched as flags ruffled in the breeze unbowed
as the smoke rose from the ashes.
Its pungent odor and acrid smell did not destroy our spirit.
I have heard the countless untold stories of heroism
that will stay with me forever.
To live timidly disgraces their honor.
I will keep that dream alive.
I refuse to live in fear.
I am an American.

MKK 9/11/03

Awesome. I love it!