Patriot Day: Remembering 9/11 and America’s response to it

Though many Americans may not be aware of it, today’s official name is “Patriot Day,” a designation established by Congress to remember the tragedy of 9/11 and America’s response to it.

The statute also asks the President to issue a proclamation requesting the “people of the United States to observe a moment of silence on Patriot Day in honor of the individuals who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001.” 

President Biden has issued the proclamation, and here is part of it:

Looking ahead

At Duke’s 9/11 Memorial, 2024

As the President points out, the “9/11 Generation” rose to the challenge and made the sacrifices necessary to keep America safe.  Despite the controversy surrounding the post-9/11 wars, the fact is that due to their efforts the U.S. has not suffered another such devastating attack. 

But what about the future?  In a sobering article in the June 2024 issue of Foreign Affairs, Harvard Professor Graham Allison and former Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell pointed out that we are seeing disturbing parallels to the run-up to 9/11.  They also point out that:

Testifying in December to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Wray said, “When I sat here last year, I walked through how we were already in a heightened threat environment.” Yet after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, “we’ve seen the threat from foreign terrorists rise to a whole other level,” he added. In speaking about those threats, Wray has repeatedly drawn attention to security gaps at the United States’ southern border, where thousands of people each week enter the country undetected.

Wray is not the only senior official issuing warnings. Since he became commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in 2022, General Erik Kurilla has been pointing out the worrying capabilities of the terrorist groups his forces are fighting in the Middle East and South Asia. These include al Qaeda, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), and especially Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), the ISIS affiliate that operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Christine Abizaid, the outgoing director of the National Counterterrorism Center, described “an elevated global threat environment” while speaking at a conference in Doha last month. And in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee just last week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, speaking about the possibility of a terrorist attack on the United States,

Will Americans rise to the challenge?

Will enough Americans rise to the challenge of living in a dangerous world?  Last year Newsweek published this disturbing poll:

Some experts are skeptical of the poll result, arguing that the willingness to serve depends upon the particulars of given conflict.  Maybe so, but….

As the President indicates in his proclamation, the “9/11 Generation” did their duty, but what about Generation Z (and, soon, Generation Alpha)?  Consider another poll from last fall that posed this survey question: “You can either almost certainly die fighting for your country, or surrender and survive. What would you do?”  64% of all Americans said they would die fighting, 15% said they would surrender, and 21% said they didn’t know. 

However, of those in the 18-29 age cohort, a full 30% said they would surrender.  What makes this especially troubling is that this is the age cohort the military depends upon for volunteers to fill the ranks.  Are we surprised that there is a military recruiting crisis?

All I can think about when I read the surveys is that we’ve failed our young people if so many don’t fully understand the terrible consequences of living under occupation by the kind of enemy who would attack the United States.  As the famous Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata said “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees” 

It is clear that we all have much work to do to instill the spirit of altruistic patriotism defending our democracy requires in the complex security environment of the 21st century. 

Concluding thoughts

The President’s proclamation makes this vital point:

This is exactly right.  To honor the sacrifices of the “9/11 Generation,” it is up to each of us to put aside our parochial difference and do what we can to protect this great nation from those who wish us harm.  As the Supreme said in Haig v. Agee, “[i]t is ‘obvious and unarguable’ that no governmental interest is more compelling than the security of the Nation.”

Perhaps this Patriot Day is the right moment to recall President John F. Kennedy’s words that are familiar to those of a certain age, but perhaps not to others: