This is a discussion that one of my roommates and I have been having on and off for a few weeks. He doesn’t like seeing the videos and pictures from 9/11 because they are on the one hand very saddening and on the other hand very maddening. The fact that something like this could happen in America is still mind-boggling eight years later. My view, though,, is that watching those videos and seeing those pictures are the very essence of “never forgetting” what happened on 9/11.

One of the talking heads on television this morning made a great point – the news channels don’t replay those videos or show those pictures too often during the year because they represent something more, something better than just filler or television bumper material. I agree.

However, I do think it is necessary to take one day out of each year to re-watch what happened on 9/11. On a day when thousands of people are gathering at places all over the East Coast to speak the names of the victims, we should all take a few minutes to watch the egregious displays of hatred inflicted upon this country by religious zealots who hate our form of government and those intangible qualities that make America great.

The first plane to hit the World Trade Center:

The second plane to hit the World Trade Center:

Watch those videos and never forget what you see in them.