Kids are a lot tougher than their worrying parents give them credit for.

I’m of the last generation of children that had to do those “duck and cover” shelter drills at school, during the height of the Cold War. (They ended them by the time I was nine years old.) We understood them, we accepted them–and, led by our teachers, we did them. It didn’t damage us psychologically (despite all the columns, articles, books, and other verbiage that had “predicted” that it would).

And, believe me, compared to the specter of nuclear war (which could have devastated the entire Northern Hemisphere), the specter of al-Qaeda terrorism is a lot less nerve-wracking.

We Americans are a much tougher breed than our enemies give us credit for. That’s one reason we’re still here.

At the end, my fellow rabble rouser friend and I went to speak to the individuals in charge of the ceremony. One was a lady. When my friend asked her why she didn’t say anything about 9/11. She replied she used to make a big deal about this day but four years ago she felt she needed it to “tone it down”. My friend’s eyes filled with tears and said that she was Jewish and she would never let anyone tell her or make her feel she needed to “tone down” about the Holocaust.

I spoke to the gentleman leading the ceremony. I praised him for his speech and for mentioning the words in the Declaration of Independece that define our nation and us as Americans. I said that I was disappointed that he didn’t say anything about 9/11. He replied that he thought about doing that but decided not to include it. I told him that it is very sad for our country that he felt it would be best to ignore this date. My friend and I left but not before telling both individuals that they need to find their voice as Americans and honor the innocent victims of 9/11.