As our state and nation approaches this emotional milestone of the September 11th attacks, my hope is that we as Americans gain a deeper understanding of our kinship with others suffering from ongoing acts of terrorism and political violence around the world. Almost every day people in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq are living the horrors of their own 9/11s.

And, our military personnel continue to serve in extremely precarious environments in the Middle East and South Asia. We as a nation never asked to become part of this unenviable global fraternity, but it’s our responsibility to not let our emotions of what terrorism does to us and our global neighbors fade away.