Jamin Bradley

It’s hard to forget where I was the day it happened. I was walking with my family around the fun center at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, MI, when I saw the horrific news that chaos had rained down from the sky and taken so many innocent lives. People were weeping outside the wreckage as others dug through the rubble looking for bodies. My gut was wrenched. I couldn’t believe the scene I was looking at.

May we NEVER FORGET how a United States missile killed more than 100 schoolchildren on February 28th, 2026, at a small Iranian school on the first day of war with Iran.

Though many have already forgotten. And I assume some still don’t even know it happened. It’s clear that Iran hasn’t forgotten, as the school was recently turned into a memorial, with pictures displayed of all the innocent lives that were taken.

“Never forget” is 9/11’s catchphrase, and it has generally bothered me over the years. I think I understand what we mean to communicate with it: “Never forget the thousands of lives lost that day and how America came together to grieve and heal in that moment.”

But given America’s character and response, that’s never been the vibe I’ve gotten from the catchphrase. Instead, I hear it through the lens of violence, blood, and anger. I see it through our immediate militaristic response of a “War on Terror.” “Never forget” has always struck me as a mindset that allows us to villainize and attack others when we perceive them as a threat.

But despite our commitment to never forget, I think we already have. If we remembered, then we would weep every time the United States crumbles another building to the ground. The rubble, the bodies, the weeping, the flashing lights, and the sirens would be giving us flashbacks of 9/11.

But instead of grieving the 100+ bodies of schoolchildren, we argue about whose fault it was, as we try to justify the horrors as an unfortunate part of war. Our anger blinds us to hearing the message in the innocent blood crying out from the ground of Iran in unison with the innocent blood of the 9/11 victims crying out from the ground of America. More violence does not heal their agony. It only stirs up the cry of more innocent blood.

If we’re truly never going to forget, then may we never forget in a way that heals the world. May our crumbled building teach us not to crumble buildings. May our lost loved ones teach us not to take the lives of others. May the violence done to us teach us to see a different way forward than more violence.

May we never forget so that we never reenact our worst days on others.