Commemorating the Anniversary of Antietam

“America will never forget what your loved ones did for all of us,” President Trump told audience members attending a 9/11 commemoration ceremony at Flight 93 National Memorial last week. The official White House video of the event ended with the admonition “Never Forget.”

As I first explained in 2012, the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 17, 1862, have become inextricably linked in my mind. In recognition of both events—and as a continuing cautionary tale against forgetting either of them—I offer a repost of a reflection I put up during ECW’s first year, Remembering 9/11 and the Lesson of Antietam.