Do you remember where you were on that September day? I’m sure you do. I do. But do you remember when it dawned on you that not all Americans will remember that day? It was Sept. 11, 2006, when that moment struck me. Standing in front of my fifth grade class at Harding Academy, we reflected on the tragic events that had occurred just five years before, their kindergarten year. As I stood before the class, I realized that this would be my first and last class to remember the events of 9/11.
Now, I’m in Italy. I’m surrounded by people who have generations of tragedies, wars and other events that now mark their calendar as days for memorials. Among all of these local remembrances, they still remember the U.S. every Sept. 11. News articles have already been written describing the events that will occur in New York to commemorate the 10th anniversary. Ten Italians died during the attacks on the World Trade Center, and to remember them, there is a memorial in Padua built with pieces from the remains of the Trade Center.
In my conversations at a coffee bar close to Harding’s villa, the local Italians have shared with me their memories of that day and their thoughts about the future. The Italians remember and mourn with their American friends over the events, as we did with them in their liberation from the Fascist regime during World War II. My encounters with the older generation of Italians who remember the war and the allied tanks that rolled through their towns and villages liberating them from the Fascist grip have been heart-warming education experiences. In their broken English and slurred Italian dialect, many have expressed their gratitude for America. They were not thanking me for something I did, yet at that moment for these gentlemen I was serving as an ambassador for the United States.
These men who fought in the trenches and escaped their own towers of tragedy stood before me reflecting on those events. Perhaps they’ll never realize that no matter how much I read, no matter how much I study, I will never remember the events of WWII as they have. Yet, they still shared their love, their life and their gratitude with me with a smile on their faces and in love with America.
