9/11: Our words, 15 years on

Yet they have inherited the words. With the passage of time comes the new lexicon: Ground Zero, Fallujah, Kabul, Wounded Warrior, Shoe Bomber, and a now familiar string of acronyms: ISIS, FDNY, IED, PTSD.

Rare is the person alive at the time whose psyche is not at least slightly affected by 9/11. A new World Trade Center has since been constructed at Ground Zero, and as a result that is not really a term you hear all that much.

Other terms have become part of our vocabulary: Al Qaida, of course, or Islamic State, and of course Iraq and Afghanistan, places once exotic and now mainly dangerous.

An everyday reminder in Hood River of how we are all affected by 9/11 is the bumper sticker reading “Afghanistan: I survived.” It’s done in that black-and-white oval style, an ironic twist on similar-styled decals that are symbols of look-where-I’ve been tourism.

Then there is the term hardly heard before 2001: deployment. And for that matter, redeployment. Many among us have served, or are family members of servicemen and servicewomen who have had one or more tour.

To those who have put their lives on the line, and experienced death or the trauma of external and internal wounds, we salute you on this 15th anniversary of 9/11. Decrying the legitimacy of the wars and the continued military involvement by the U.S. and its allies cannot diminish the sense of gratitude our nation should bestow on veterans. Unfortunately, another term, “veteran neglect,” has not received the kind of attention it deserves from the federal government, which may be the greatest long-term trauma we can ascribe to 9/11.