9/11 Anniversary

It's been a year since we launched the leadership journal, and I'd like to thank our readers for keeping up with our posts and sharing your thoughts. The journal has been a valuable way to get information out to you and to receive your feedback; and it's been a useful medium to share some personal insights about what we see and do on a daily basis. I've learned from our exchanges, and I hope you have as well.

In my initial post, I asked readers whether they thought 9/11 was fading. Perhaps a partial answer to that question can be found in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times, which again referred to the "fading memory" of 9/11 in an article that recounted the stories of several individuals who were injured in the attacks but managed to survive against overwhelming odds.

I can tell you from my own perspective that while the memory of 9/11 has aged another year, it has certainly not faded. This was reinforced today when I visited Ground Zero in New York City to participate in the annual 9/11 memorial ceremony. Thousands of people – friends, family members, government officials, and ordinary citizens – came together to pay their respects, honor the victims, and read their names aloud. It was an important reminder of the horrors of that day, but also the tremendous valor and sacrifice of the first responders and ordinary citizens who gave their lives trying to save their fellow citizens.

We have now gone seven years without another major attack on our own soil. Few would have thought that possible in 2001. It is a testament to the men and women who work every day to protect our country and who have not allowed the memory of 9/11 to fade. By remembering that day, it helps us recommit ourselves to our present purpose.

It also reminds us that we must strike a balance between fear and hysteria on the one hand and a dangerous complacency on the other. That is a balance we try to achieve every day at the Department of Homeland Security. I'd like to thank you for your interest in our perspective and for sharing your views on our efforts. We look forward to hearing more in the future.

Michael Chertoff