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In today’s newspaper, you will find coverage of the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

You can read what many of your friends and neighbors were doing and thinking of that day as they learned of the four planes that were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a common field in rural Pennsylvania as heroic passengers struggled to wrest control of an airplane from hijackers who had set a course for some target in Washington, D.C. — most likely the U.S. Capitol Building.

On that day, the news was chaotic and frightening, and it was hard to make sense of what was happening. But a generation hence, those of us who remember the attacks now have so much perspective we did not have that day.

An entire generation has come up behind us with no firsthand knowledge of what it was like that first frightening day and the days and weeks after. Indeed, of the 13 service members who died in a suicide bomber attack on the Kabul airport during America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan a few weeks ago, very few of them are even old enough to remember that day. And yet, they were all still serving in the U.S. military with honor and valor.

Also in today’s newspaper, you can read about how the Western Tidewater Community Services Board is serving veterans, active-duty service members and their families who need mental health services or other supports. This is especially important as the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaches so soon after the Afghanistan withdrawal.

We hope all can take the time today or sometime this week to read, reflect, remember and find a way to serve.