Today marks the 24th anniversary of one of the most horrific days in the history of the United States. Yes, it has been that long already.

If you need to be told exactly what significant, nation-altering event we are observing then, well, you are not much of an American. Period.

Tributes and memorials will mark today — nearly a quarter-century since acts of terrorism across our skies had planes plunging to earth and creating mass casualties. We remember the tragedies of that day. We remember the sacrifices and acts of heroism.

Local tributes will be paid throughout our region. Our area lost one of its own on that dreadful day: Cathy Salter from Wellsville died in the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City.

The very most elderly among us certainly remember where they were when learning about the Pearl Harbor bombings over 80 years ago. Many of us of a certain age vividly remember that terrible November afternoon in Dallas nearly 62 years ago. What happened on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania continues to resound and will forever echo throughout time. It is seared into our nation’s very soul.

Nearly 3,000 men, women and children died in New York City, Washington, D.C., and rural Pennsylvania. Among them were more than 400 firefighters, paramedics and police officers. Hundreds of U.S. service members died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom — flash points which led to the 9/11 tragedies. Think of the families left to intolerably suffer. Think of the mothers and fathers who lost children. Like Mrs. Salter. Think of the children who lost fathers and mothers. And so on.

Today, then, is a day to remind ourselves of the horrors of 9/11 and the heavy price paid to keep us safe. The ongoing vigilance against the terrorist threat — that constant state of being on guard against evil — must not waver. The feeling is we now have to be even more vigilant since our messy pullout from Afghanistan a bit over four years ago. And what a tragedy of another kind that was.

The bad people are coming for us. Post 9/11 America is a percolating environment. People want to hurt and kill Americans. It can happen anywhere. Think about the debt we can never repay to all those who defend us, both at home and abroad. Each year, 9/11 needs to be a date that lives in infamy and on which we rededicate ourselves to overcoming a vicious, implacable foe. Firefighters and responders who entered those burning towers — many never emerging — redefined the word “heroes.”

We appreciate the thoughtfulness of those community groups and organizations holding 9/11 tributes. Please involve our children. Let us hope others throughout our communities and schools are holding or held their own tributes too. Forget the post-debate talk for a while today and discuss a part of history that shaped contemporary America.

We hope memories of the 9/11 tragedies do not get lost in time — or worse, not even taught or explained to our children in the classrooms. What happened that fateful Tuesday morning two decades and four years ago must not fade away like the smoke that hovered over New York City, the Pentagon and a small patch of Pennsylvania countryside not all that far away from us.