If we forget 9/11, our enemies will win

The line in Froma Harrop's column regarding the debate over how to remember the Sept. 11 attacks six years later that really bothered me was: "They (the families of those killed on Sept. 11) may always grieve their loss, but the public has a right to move on."

Certainly the public has a right to move on. But every time we fail as a nation to actively remember, we find ourselves once again victims of our own complacency.

The sinking of the Lusitania, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the attacks against the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were all the result of us not taking seriously growing threats against our national security.

Each time we develop a mindset of invincibility, we are attacked and drawn into a war.

Peace time is never the time to cut back on our military or weaponry, be complacent about national security preparedness or the time to view potential enemies as just misdirected, lost souls.

Dec. 7, "the day that will go down in infamy," has become just another day. Will Sept. 11 suffer the same fate? We are a people who need to be constantly reminded of what it costs to remain a free society. If we forget, then our enemies have won.

Tricia L. Dieringer

Elgin