It was the first thing I heard when I got out of bed this morning.

My habit is to flip on KYW 1060, followed almost immediately by making coffee.

Not this morning.

I stopped when I heard the following words.
"Good Morning, it’s Tuesday … September 11th."

Suddenly all the images came flooding back. It was six years ago. Sometimes it seems like six minutes.

The thing I always remember first about Sept. 11, 2001, is that it was just about as perfect a September day as you can imagine. Gorgeous sunshine. A cloudless sky bluer than even the fondest dreams of Penn State fans. Just a hint of a morning chill in the air.

I took a moment to soak it in during my morning ritual, a walk to the Wawa a block away.

I returned to the newsroom, sat down at the main news desk and braced myself for another day. I flipped on the TV that sits above the news desk. That’s when I first saw it. Smoke streaming from one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

That doesn’t look quite right, I remember saying to myself. I turned up the volume. They were talking about a plane striking the imposing edifice. Surely it was a small prop plan. An accident, I thought.

A few minutes later I watched in horror as the second jet slammed into the other tower. The horror had begun.

They are the images that are now seared into our consciousness. Or are they?

One of the things I am most dismayed at is how, just six years later, the impact of the day, and its repercussions, already seem to be fading.
More people are talking about who should be returning punts for the Eagles than are concerned about 9/11, its aftermath, and the possibility of another attack on the nation.

That’s why I was so interested in hearing what one particular gentleman had to say about the legacy of 9/11. Our staff writer Tim Logue drew the assignment of trying to determine why we some are saying it’s time to move on, that it’s time for the mourning to stop.

One of the people he talked to was Ed Turzanski. He’s the assistant vice president for government and community relations at La Salle Unviversity. He’s also a noted national security expert who is often called on to offer his opinion.

I was somewhat taken aback to hear him say something I have been saying since that day six years ago.

I happen to be of the belief that we cannot see the video of those jets slamming into the World Trade Center enough. Same goes for the plane that hit the Pentagon. And the struggle that took place on American Flight 93 before it slammed into a field in Shanksville, Pa.

I would like to see the network news end every night with that video, and the image of those two towers collapsing in a massive plume of smoke.

Tursanski seems to agree.

I don’t want to see those hurtful images out of some sense of sick voyeurism. I don’t want to exploit the pain of those lost in the attacks.

I want to be sure we never forget what happened that day. And what we need to do to be sure it never happens again.