Unfortunate omission in 9/11 commentary

In Thursday’s commentary on the anniversary of 9/11, Managing Editor Jim Slusher had this to say, “Teach your children not just about the planes and the towers, but about the firefighters, the passengers on Flight 93, the ordinary citizens who lined up for hours to give blood they might never be asked to provide. And teach them that democracy is fragile not only in the face of terrorists, but also in the face of apathy, pessimism and rancor.”

As one like him who lived through that awful day 24 years ago, I can’t help but notice Mr. Slusher failed to note something else we need to teach our children: who perpetrated the attack, why they attacked us, and what they were trying to achieve.

Whether purposely omitted or an oversight, that those facts weren’t in his commentary is an error by Mr. Slusher and this publication that I am not willing to forgive and forget. Interestingly, he recalls as a high school freshman in 1965 absorbing the experience of Pearl Harbor. I would wager that those lessons didn’t forget to point out who attacked our country and why they did so, but in Thursday’s essay, not one word about who or why.

He would do well to heed the words of Spanish philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” His grandchildren will thank him should he do so.

Joe H Heater

Palatine