There has been much reflecting and revisiting tales of “where were you on 9/11″ and investigating how this infamous event impacted lives all across the nation. We’ve heard from those who lost people to this day, and while the airways have been justly saturated with stories, we at State of the Re:Union thought it might be interesting to hear how the “Aftermath Generation” of 9/11 has been formed by the day. Our SOTRU intern Brit McGinnis helps us with that insight.

Where were you when what it meant to be an American changed?

I was at school, in class. Elk Meadow Elementary School, Mrs. Krakow’s fifth grade class in Bend, Oregon. I remember all of us being told that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City and that people could be hurt.

The news didn’t compute at first. I didn’t understand why everyone was so upset— my little-kid sense of distance between the East Coast and the West Coast made the Twin Towers feel so far away. I wanted to ask, “Why is everyone so sad?” Other children were tense, as if waiting for some boogeyman terrorist to suddenly appear in the hallway. I excused myself to the bathroom, noticing that the halls seemed much more quiet than before. My footsteps echoed more loudly.

I watched the news all the time that week. I wanted to understand what this meant for my country. Before that day, I had only seen the scrolling bars showing updated news once on CNN, but now they were everywhere. For the first time, I was afraid. Not of terrorists attacking our country, but of how the country as a whole was going to react to what was happening. I suddenly became afraid of all the grownups around me becoming impetuous and doing something stupid.

We need to think, I kept thinking. We can’t just react. For the first time, I understood what it meant to feel helpless as a citizen.

I started reading the newspaper more and more, a reaction prompted by this event. I was young and I couldn’t yet vote. But I wanted to know what was going on, and I felt that I had to know as soon as possible. I read about the different countries, what the “big people in charge” were doing. I had to know, because I couldn’t be ignorant anymore.

I’ve found that this was a common reaction among my cohort. No matter if it was a lot or a little, people my age were awakened to the events of the world. We wanted to know what Al-Qaeda was. Where were Iraq and Iran? What did the president want to do now, and why? Opinions were suddenly spouting from everyone about the actions of the country. We kids learned to listen.

As my peers and I grew older, we became infatuated with the media. We wanted to make YouTube videos and Facebook pages — proof that we were still here, that we were still alive and kicking after all the tragedy that had occurred in our short lives. Programs like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart exploded in popularity, due to the fact that we still desperately wanted to know what was going on in our world.

This awakening of a generation, though it was an effect of a horrendous tragedy, has made this coming generation likely one of the most intellectually formidable generations in America’s history. We wanted to know everything that happened due to the tragedy we barely understood at the time. We were too young to understand, but not too young to learn.

The tragic events of 9/11 made community-minded citizens out of an entire generation of young people, because it made us want to learn about the workings of our country and the world. Who can truly, effectively terrorize a nation of knowledge-seeking people?

There are pivotal moments in our lives, be they big, small, tragic or ordinary, affecting changes in the way that we do things. Are you a participant and voice in the Aftermath Generation? If so, do you think 9/11 has forged the way you operate? Are its effects truly defining your generation? If so, what is the one thing that changed in your/your cohorts actions or thinking? Did it make you more curious about religion or culture, suspicious of strangers? Perhaps it made you more impetuous, callous, thoughtful or forgiving? Think about it, write it down and send it to us. We would love to learn more about the future of the men and women in our communities.

Many people responded to the 9/11 attacks by putting flag decals on their cars, singing God Bless America and other patriotic songs, donating to various charities, and wearing flag lapel pins. At the time, I warned against such gestures, as I feared they amounted to a kind of empty or false unity. But today is different: we desperately need people to take such action.

Our politics and public life can be toxic, so much so that to even hold the 10th anniversary commemorations this past weekend required a kind of cease fire among deeply divided politicians and their supporters. Endless acrimony has left a stain on the public square, and left many of us bemoaning the daily conduct of our leaders. One can only hope our leaders will enlighten themselves and find a better path. But don’t hold your breath.

Instead, it is everyday citizens – you, me, and others – who ultimately will place the nation on a better trajectory. The task before us is to “rebuild” the nation – but not solely by constructing new memorials and buildings at Ground Zero and elsewhere. For bricks and mortar are not the most important building blocks for this rebuilding.

The first and most fundamental need is to “signal” each other that we are ready to step forward and join together. To achieve this, we must embrace and spread small public acts and rituals that get people out of their homes and demonstrate a sense of connection and compassion for one another – acts such as helping a neighbor, painting a local school, singing public-spirited songs together, and displaying the flag, among others. I am not advocating make-work volunteer efforts, or superficial initiatives, but small acts grounded in a sense of common purpose and accomplishment for the greater good.

I realize these public acts will not solve our most pressing challenges. At this point my goal is more modest, yet no less important. We must get people engaged with one another at a time when people no longer trust their leaders, many of the organizations created to serve their communities, and often one another. People worry no one understands the reality of their lives, their concerns, or aspirations – and that no one will stand with them in tough times.

People’s desire for a new course is not rooted in the politics of ideology or partisanship, as some would have you believe, but in the basic human hope for connection and compassion. Thus this challenge is one of humanity and identity, not simply politics and policy.  People want to feel a part of an able and connected America; they want to be seen, heard and understood; they want to restore their faith and pride in themselves and the nation.

I want to underscore just how basic and vital this first step is.  I recognize that many of the challenges faced across the country require more than the small public acts I am recommending here – they demand nothing short of sustained and systemic action if there is to be real and lasting change. There is no other way to effectively address underlying issues involving public schools, income disparities, health care, energy independence, and the like. But make no mistake: we must lay the proper groundwork to bring about the trust and public will necessary to break current gridlock and create a genuine sense of possibility in the nation. This is our most urgent work now.

That’s why on this, the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it is many of the very gestures that emerged after 9/11, the very ones I felt back then did not go far enough, that fit the bill today. If we are to get anything of real magnitude done in the days and years ahead, then we must have the courage to take the small steps that will get us moving in the right direction and build from there.

It’s not too late. Let’s start to rebuild the nation, together, one small public act after another.

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people\’92s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We\’92re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.