# When will 9/11 become "just another date?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292 "2010-09-10T14:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/1 "2010-09-10T14:43:54Z")
Since we don’t remember the Alamo much anymore, though I still know Pearl Harbor Day is December 8th, I’m just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/2 "2010-09-10T14:45:51Z")
Soon, I hope. very, very soon. But as long as there are people alive who were there, or who can benefit from America being fearful, the date will used and abused. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/3 "2010-09-10T14:52:56Z")
It will be after Pearl Harbor fades from memory. Pearl Harbor happened in a territory that had yet to become a state 18 years later. The 9/11 attacks were on US soil! I won’t forget and I suspect nobody alive today will forget. The flip side of the poll question is: How long before 9/11 becomes the same sort of Day Of Remembering that Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day are now? I would have that as a 10 year max thing, ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/4 "2010-09-10T14:53:20Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > …I still know Pearl Harbor Day is December 8th… December 7th, actually. So based on that, I’d say it will be on September 12th, 2080. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/5 "2010-09-10T14:54:23Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Since we don’t remember the Alamo much anymore, though I still know Pearl Harbor Day is December 8th, I’m just wondering. It moved? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/6 "2010-09-10T14:58:50Z")
The Alamo wasn’t remotely as worldwide an event as the 9/11 Attacks were, so comparing one to the other isn’t fair to either. Both Pearl harbor and 9/11 changed the way Americans lived, and ushered in new eras. The Alamo, not really so much. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/7 "2010-09-10T14:59:25Z")
For some people never, for some people it is now. If we ever catch OBL that will shorten the period. Winning WWII put a lot of closure on Peal Harbor. So when we win the war on terror, and it stops being a political talking point, then we can move on with our lives. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/8 "2010-09-10T15:03:30Z")
I voted not in this generation, but it may be much longer, because: When was the Alamo? I don’t remember. When was Pearl Harbor? December something. When was the bombing of the USS Cole? Not a clue. When was 9/11? Sometime around 7/28, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/9 "2010-09-10T15:09:46Z")
I suppose the answer really hinges on what you think it would make it just another date. The memorials and such get smaller every year, which is to be expected, and you don’t see as many people sending tribute emails or making Facebook posts and such, but they’re still done. “Never” is a long time, so I picked “not in the next generation.” It was a major terrorist attack on a major landmark in a huge city and it was documented extensively on television, the web, and every medium. And to make the date that much more memorable, it’s remembered primary as “9/11” - like if people said “remember December 12” instead of “remember Pearl Harbor” - so I don’t think too many people will forget the date any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/10 "2010-09-10T15:13:14Z")
Not until US troops are out of the Middle East. While we continue to wage wars that had their genesis in 9/11/2001, that day will remain a festering wound. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/11 "2010-09-10T15:14:58Z")
It will be mentioned forever. If we had rebuilt the towers immediately, it would have been lessened. The Pentagon was rebuilt and it does not get the play the towers get. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/12 "2010-09-10T15:19:12Z")
Well, it will be an anniversary we mention/notice for around 75 years or more after it. That would take us to 2076 or so. I can see it still being mentioned in 2101 as the centennial, but since everyone who can remember it will be dead, it will be historical rather than personal. I’m sure they’ll interview some 110 year old guy and ask him his memories, but it will be more of a curiosity and historical point. I’m sure many years between the 75th and 100th anniversary, people won’t even mention it. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/13 "2010-09-10T16:45:21Z")
When someother event overtakes it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/14 "2010-09-10T16:47:46Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > When someother event overtakes it. We’ve already had Katrina and the tsunami. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/15 "2010-09-10T16:52:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > > [@AK84](#): > > > > When someother event overtakes it. > > We’ve already had Katrina and the tsunami. We don’t instantly forget one disaster or crisis when another one happens. I notice you didn’t mention the earthquake in Haiti. 😉 The Indian Ocean tsunami dwarfed September 11th in terms of deaths, but seeing as how it was in another country and had essentially no impact on day to day life in the U.S. I am not sure how it overtakes September 11th. Katrina was a combination of a natural disaster and many varieties of incompetence, and arguably that makes for a very different thing than a deliberate terrorist attack. In fact the damage and recovery from Katrina were probably worse. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/16 "2010-09-10T17:00:08Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > > [@AK84](#): > > > > When someother event overtakes it. > > We’ve already had Katrina and the tsunami. True, but nobody **made** them happen…well, as long as you ignore the opinion of a certain crazy leader from south america. 9/11 and Pearl Harbor are probably as least as memorable because they were attacks as because of the lost of lives. The fact that someone caused a lot of people to die scary in a different way than an uncontrolable weather event is. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/17 "2010-09-10T17:07:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I notice you didn’t mention the earthquake in Haiti. 😉 There are a lot of things I didn’t mention from the past decade. I just didn’t want to get into a litany of them. And yes, 9/11 is different because we were attacked. So if we’re going to forget about it because of a larger disaster, it’s going to have to be a larger attack. I shudder to think about what that might look like. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/18 "2010-09-10T17:23:48Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > > [@Marley23](#): > > > > I notice you didn’t mention the earthquake in Haiti. 😉 > > There are a lot of things I didn’t mention from the past decade. I just didn’t want to get into a litany of them. > > And yes, 9/11 is different because we were attacked. So if we’re going to forget about it because of a larger disaster, it’s going to have to be a larger attack. I shudder to think about what that might look like. Agreed. If a nuke - dirty or otherwise - is set off in NYC, then 9/11 will get pushed way back in importance. Unless of course they do it on 9/11 - knowing our love of sequels. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/19 "2010-09-10T17:35:03Z")
The poll didn’t include an option for “September 12, 2002”, so I didn’t vote. I suppose there was some significance to the anniversary, but after that? Around here, the biggest event tomorrow is going to be a pet adoption festival at the local animal shelter. It’s just not significant any more. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292/20 "2010-09-10T17:38:28Z")
Well if a bigger attack happens it’ll be forgot, but it’s fading even now. Last year I was watching the evening news and they mentioned it, and I said “Oh yeah it’s 9-11 today.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-9-11-become-just-another-date/553292.md?page=2)