The growing threat posed by ISIS, one of the most barbaric terrorist groups to surface in modern times, reminds us all we should never forget the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Over 3,000 people were killed 13 years ago today in the worst attack ever on American soil. Terrorists flew two airliners into New York’s World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C.  

The civilized world appears to have finally come to realize that the rise of ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) could pose just as serious a threat to Europe and the United States. The end game has to be its total destruction.

Bob Schieffer, host of CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation,” talked about 9/11 on Sunday’s program.

“I knew 11 people who died or lost close relatives that day, including a young colleague at CBS News, who lost her dad,” Schieffer said.

“So forgive me if I feel a certain urgency about the current terror threat, forgive me, but I’ve been through this before. No, I can’t forget the bad but I can also remember the good, how an awful day brought Americans together as they had not come together since World War II, how road rage disappeared the next day as people waved and honked.

“We had all gone through it together.”

Among the 3,000 killed were 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers.

Southwest Louisiana lost two of its citizens that dark day, and memories of them will be with us forever.

L. Russell “Russ” Keene III, 33, a native of Sulphur, was an equities analyst working on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower.

Kevin Yokum, 27, of Lake Charles, a Navy petty officer second class, was one of the casualties in the attack on the Pentagon. The death toll there was 125 military and civilian employees.

A fourth plane was hijacked, but its target is unknown. Passengers on the flight heard about the attacks in New York and Washington and fought the four hijackers. Unfortunately, all 45 people on board died when the plane flipped and crashed in western Pennsylvania.

Then-President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom on Oct. 7, 2001. It was an international military effort led by the U.S. that ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which had allowed Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network to thrive there.

Bin Laden was tracked years later to Pakistan where he was killed by U.S. forces on May 2, 2011.

ISIS grew into a dangerous terrorist threat during the current civil war in Syria where a number of groups have been involved in an effort to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The terrorist group has created an Islamic State in territory it has seized in Syria and Iraq.

The beheading of two American journalists and other atrocities appear to have made the public and President Obama realize this is a problem that isn’t going away.

Remembering 9/11 is the best way to confront this newest threat.

As Schieffer said, “In the end it brought out the best in us, which hadn’t happened in a while but it was a hard way to do it and we owe it to each other to never let such a thing happen again.”

Take time today to remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and pray this country’s political and military leadership won’t ever let it happen again.  (MGNonline)