Kevin Levin: What the Civil War Can Teach Us About 9/11 Remembrance

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1st Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 5, 2011
Location
SE PA
Due diligence done, couldn't find this posted previously.

From 2012, but still applicable today.

"the families of the victims are a key component in 9/11 remembrance and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. They are involved in every aspect, from the planning of museum exhibits to the organization of memorial events. Many of the television specials that aired on the 10th anniversary were centered on the stories of family members and survivors. But at some point our collective memory will evolve away from the personal. The events of 9/11 will eventually take their place within early 21st century history and be connected to the complex chains of what came before and after.

We can see this in the evolution of our own collective memory of the American Civil War. For the first few decades, remembrances involved the veterans on both sides of the divide. These men, both the living and the recently deceased, served as a direct link to the past, and remembrance ceremonies were overwhelmingly focused on their heroism and sacrifice. Reunions with former comrades and even with former enemies ensured that the war would be framed around shared personal experiences.
"


“And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth."
 
Keeping for posterity, the hallowed memory of horrific events like 9/11 and the ACW is incumbent upon generations to come as well as those still directly effected. That is why the study and memorialization of the ACW is not simply an academic exercise, but is a homage to those and their families who fought, died, or were effected in any way regardless of the fact that it happened so long ago.
 
Keeping for posterity, the hallowed memory of horrific events like 9/11 and the ACW is incumbent upon generations to come as well as those still directly effected. That is why the study and memorialization of the ACW is not simply an academic exercise, but is a homage to those and their families who fought, died, or were effected in any way regardless of the fact that it happened so long ago.

I'd like to think those efforts would keep the same mistakes from being repeated again, but...
 
I will honor the victims of 9-11-01 and memorialize them for as long as I live. Just as I hope that the generations of young people who come after me will continue to do the same in like manner. Just as I memorialize my direct ancestors and relatives who fought during the American Civil War, the American Revolution and the War of 1812. They all live as long as we mention their names and continue to remember them. The day that we all stop remembering them and stop mentioning their names, only then do they truly die... when there is no one left to remember them. I think that is why unknown graves in cemeteries bother me so much, especially regarding our military veterans who sacrificed so much in the line of duty.
 
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The Union Captain I 'adopted' had no direct descendants. He is buried in an unknown, unmarked grave. Yet, somehow he came to my attention and I have made sure ever since to remember him, and remind others of his existence. I think that is important. A life should never be lost to the purpose it was meant to serve. And sometimes that purpose is remembering.
 
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