Bin Laden, 9/11 and the conflict of our generation

I was putting the final touches on my column for next week Sunday night when I heard the news. Osama bin Laden, the man our country has been searching for near on a decade, is dead.

Well, so much for  that column. I saved the document onto the hard drive of my computer, opened a blank page in Word and began writing the column you see before you today.

We all remember where we were the day the towers fell, when the Pentagon burned and when a lone plane brought itself down in the cornfields of Pennsylvania. Sept. 11, 2001 is, for many of us, the first major event in our nation’s history that we remember with vivid detail, and in many ways, is the single event that has defined our generation in terms of our outlook on the world.

At the time, my family and I were living outside of Philadelphia. As with most schools on the East Coast that day, we went into lockdown when the first plane crashed into the first of the Twin Towers. The principal gathered all of the students into the auditorium and told us that the World Trade Center had been attacked. She put the live news coverage on the auditorium projector, and we all watched as the second plane struck. It is my first memory of dread felt like: the cold, slick feeling crawled down my spine and settled like a pit in my stomach.

Walking back to our classrooms what seemed like hours later, I remember seeing two girls sitting outside the front office, holding each other and crying. Their parents worked in New York City.

Last night, I followed the news, watched the President’s speech and saw the celebrations outside of the White House and Ground Zero in silence. In many ways, it was too much to take in. An entire decade of searching had come to an end, and yet, our mission is nowhere near complete.

Our fight continues. American men and women of the Armed Forces are still in harm’s way and will likely be for years to come. Al Qaeda has lost their figurehead, yes, but the damage is done — bin Laden has already laid the groundwork for his legacy, and the organization will continue to operate and grow in his memory.

As I said earlier, the War on Terror is the fight that has defined our generation’s comprehension of warfare, just as World War II had done for my great grandparents, Vietnam and Korea for my grandparents and the Cold War and Desert Storm for my mother and father. Each fight has been different, but each fight has been real. Each war had tested the resolve of the United States.

Bin Laden’s assassination has brought the “Forgotten War” back to the forefront of our nation’s attention. Unlike the conflicts of generations past, it is easy — but not excusable — for many of us to forget what is going on overseas.

I challenge us all to keep the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa in mind as we come closer to the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11.

The wars are very real. They deserve the attention of the American people, and regardless on your stance on the war, the troops deserve our support.

I hope that each person who changed their Facebook status, Tweeted, crowded into the streets in front of Ground Zero and the White House chanting “U-S-A” and singing the National Anthem remember the conflict in a week’s time.

President Obama summed up everything in the last few lines of his speech. He reminds us not only of the strength of the United States, but that our mission is nowhere near its end:

“The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to.”
“That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.”

“Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”