Letters

9/11 One Year Later

"Every life that was lost that day should remind us to stay united. It unfortunately takes such a tragedy to strengthen America's spine." TERRI VANGORDEN Elmira, N.Y.

TIME did an exceptional job covering the events of Sept. 11 and those that led up to it [9/11, ONE YEAR LATER]. We must never let the pain inflicted on the innocent fade from our collective memory. I have an uneasy feeling that we may be letting an opportunity pass if we do not engage in an honest national discussion about the roots of the hatred of the U.S. A great nation should have nothing to fear from a candid review of its dealings with others. ERNEST MONTESANTO San Jose, Calif.

Why can we not allow Sept. 11 to die a normal death? If we were to stop picking at old scabs, perhaps true healing could begin for those who need it most. For many, the constant reminders are worse than what happened. We cannot change the past. We must look beyond our tears to the future. KENDRA LYONS Vancouver, Wash.

After the sad events of Sept. 11, a parade of politicians has raised our feelings of fear, hate and revenge, not for anticipation of a better future but for political opportunism. Many of us have submissively joined the outpouring of fury. We denounce dictatorships, and rightly so, but democratic nations also have a duty to elect responsible and peace-loving leaders. We must never forget the words of Mohandas Gandhi: an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. We should learn to live in a manner to make our lives and those of others more enjoyable on Planet Earth. NAREN PATEL Hickory, N.C.

The number of bleeding-heart pacifists has increased exponentially over the past few months. Your memorial stories should have focused on the horrors perpetrated by Islamic extremists on Sept. 11. America needs to be reminded of the terrible acts that occurred on that date. TIMOTHY S. EVANS Whittier, N.C.

You may have published a more meaningful issue, but I certainly don't remember it. Thank you for putting the horror of Sept. 11 within a perspective of diversity, common sense and compassion. MARYBETH LYTLE Urbandale, Iowa

I was a dogface at an Air Force base in Texas a year after Pearl Harbor. I don't recall that first year's anniversary as comparable in any way to the crescendo of media hype now being thrown at us over Sept. 11. While we feel compassion for those who lost loved ones, we need to look ahead. As a great nation, we should try to overlook our religious and ethnic differences and work with other nations to alleviate poverty and disease and create an environmentally safe world for future generations. Such a common goal would be a far greater memorial than publishing more pictures and stories of the World Trade Center towers falling. DICK BAURMANN Atascocita, Texas

I agree with the Iowa writing instructor, Mary Nilsen, who said she "misses the country we were during those weeks" following Sept. 11. We were more patriotic, we loved one another more, and President Bush and Mayor Giuliani were everyone's heroes. Now Giuliani is off the stage completely, and the President is busy trying to decide whether to attack Iraq. We have learned a lot, but we have much more to learn. AMANDA ROY Houston