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The year 2001 was a hard year for a great many families. Some — as my family was — were affected by deaths.

My mother died on July 28, 2001. She had surgery for cancer in February and rebounded quickly. But, just as quickly, she fell ill again. Our family grieved. Our mother was our glue, the absolute love of our lives.

Then came 9/11, that fateful day when some 3,000 innocent Americans were slain by Muslim terrorists. The event was labeled the “worst terrorist attack in American history” by a number of historians. We vowed to never forget. But have we forgotten?

I’m not certain how my father felt about 9/11. I’m not certain I discussed it with him. For you see, we were still in grief mode and taking care of all those things that have to be taken care after someone’s passing. I was also consumed with making certain my dad was doing the things he was supposed to do, such as getting his meds, eating, etc. I also left every Thursday on my schedule as “Dad’s Day,” so I could be with him to do the things he wanted to do such as fish, just ride around or visit relatives.

Time with my father flew by until that fateful Tuesday, October 9, 2001, when I received a call that he had passed away, peacefully sitting on the back of his pickup truck, pouring walnuts from a plastic bag into a potato basket. He died doing one of the things he loved. He loved getting walnuts to crack while sitting in his shop.

I often think about how 9/11/2001 — that dreaded day when four hijacked airplanes respectively flew into the World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon, and into a field in Pennsylvania killing Americans — is sandwiched between the deaths of my parents. I do not attach any significance to it, other than the memories of those events and how they impacted my life.

What I think most about is what we all said that 9/11 day. We said we would not forget. The terrorists brought unity to America with their brazen and cowardly act. Suddenly, we flexed our muscles and expressed our pride in America. Americans from all over rallied to help others, especially those in New York City that were so negatively touched by the horrendous event.

Yet, just last year, President Joe Biden failed to remember the 20th year anniversary of the event with a speech. Why? Was it not important enough? Or was it his way of telling all of us that the event should be forgotten?

According to Andrea Peyser, in an opinion piece in the New York Post, “The annual ceremony on Sunday in New York City” commemorating that dark date — the powerful and chilling reading of the names of the dead — got little TV coverage, even in the towns from which so many victims commuted.”

She went on to point out that New York 1, which broadcasts to the city’s five boroughs did provide the program in full. She added, “I watched the ceremony online. After a while, it appeared that Vice President Kamala Harris, who showed up at the start, was nowhere to be found.”

Have we really forgotten or are we simply too wrapped up in our own selfish desires to remember what the day actually means or should mean to us?

A report, “9/11 and Terrorist Travel,” was commissioned three years after 9/11. One note in the report said, “It is perhaps obvious to state that terrorists cannot plan and carry out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the country.”

The report said the terrorists entered the country illegally and that they were able to stay after violating various federal laws. The report said, “Three hijackers carried passports with indicators of Islamic extremism linked to al-Qaeda; two others carried passports manipulated in a fraudulent manner.” The hijackers were also able to move around with ease and several actually left the U.S. and re-entered several times.

Yet, today, we continue to allow the undocumented into America without a care about their dangerousness. We use our own infrastructure to transport them to various places in the U.S.

Yes, we have forgotten. All we have to do is look around us. We are not unified any longer. We’ve been divided by the political parties because it is to their advantage that we be that way. We do business with the very terrorist-supported nations that would be happy to see a non-existent United States. The “War on Terror,” proclaimed by then-President George W. Bush, means nothing now.

So, here is to memory, from an Alan Jackson song, “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?”

“Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones? Pray for the ones who don’t know? Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble? And sob for the ones left below? Did you burst out with pride for the red, white and blue? And the heroes who died just doin’ what they do? Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer? And look at yourself and what really matters?”

If we have forgotten, the lives of the men, women and children who died that day, are for naught. That makes it a sad day in America. I pray we forgive, but that we also remember so we never forget our heroes of 9/11/2001.

Mitchell Oakely is The Standard’s publisher emeritus.

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