See How 9-11 Impacted Every Small Town in Idaho

9-11 is America’s other Memorial Day. It’s often called the First Responders Memorial Day. For Gold Star Families, every day is Memorial Day. They gave up children for the cause. The number of Idahoans killed in wars that followed the terrorist attack 23 years ago is staggering. I attended a dedication for a monument in their memory in Jerome several years ago. You see the names on the wall and realize a large proportion of our nation’s valor came from a state with a small population.

The picture above is from Rupert, where the 21st-century war dead are remembered. It was taken by Anna Workman. Her son, Sergeant Christopher J. Workman, is among Idaho’s dead from the War on Terror. He was only 21 years old when he watched the devastation and committed to the cause.

There are large memorial celebrations in New York City, The Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Then there are the smaller remembrances in small towns across America. The attacks 23 years ago were felt by all, many of us watching live on television. The war then came to Middle America as young men and women answered the call.

There were 3,000 of our countrymen killed on that dreadful day. Many more than sacrificed their lives to send a message to the rest of the world. This country may look like a sleeping giant, as a Japanese commander is said to have observed. Apocryphally he said his people had awoken it and filled it with terrible resolve. The same can be said about a later generation.

We have doubts about ourselves at times, but a core of our fellow Americans don’t. We owe them our gratitude, and every day as well as today and Memorial Day.