22News reporter Tamara Sacharczyk was the master of ceremonies for the 16th annual September 11th Remembrance Ceremony in Springfield this week and something she said resonated with me as I was covering the event.

She noted she was nine years old when the terrorists attacked. That means that almost her entire life she has lived in a country at war. That is part of her generational experience.

I doubt that kids who are Millennials today ever imagined the war they heard about as kids would be one in which they could serve.

Think about that a moment: have we ever had such a conflict before?

We have all lived through an era when we have experienced the longest foreign conflict in the nation’s history. Only the immoral and unethical war against Native Americans lasted longer.

How has this war shaped us? I can’t help but think it has made some deep impact on this nation.

Consider this: the war is continuing in Afghanistan and the emergence of Isis are part of the events that started so many years ago. Yet, how much attention do they receive from the national press?

Do we even see weekly reports from the Middle East? No, really. I only have seen renewed reporting from Afghanistan largely because of decisions made by the Trump Administration.

The war has been going on so long it has become, to a certain degree, “normal.” It doesn’t warrant the kind of coverage it once did because the novelty of American service men and women in harm’s way has worn off.

Covering a war is also expensive and the network news operations have been scaled back over the years.

I’m not being disrespectful here. As a service kid I know the sacrifices, the pain and the worry an overseas deployment can create. I have two nephews in the Navy right now and a deployment for them is a distinct possibility.

I have vivid memories of what it was like for my family when my father spent a year in Vietnam. You watch the network news every night to get a sense of what was happening and my dad’s weekly audio tapes back home – he didn’t send us letters, but rather three-inch reel-to-reel tapes – symbolized that he was still all right.

Having a friend or relative serve overseas in a combat zone is anything but normal for thousands of Americans. The shame is the government, the national press and too many of us have allowed this situation to become “normal.”

That condition of “normal,” adds additional pressure on service families. It’s difficult enough to go through that worry and pain, but when you realize the general public doesn’t have much of clue about your condition, it’s more difficult.

For me, a ceremony noting September 11th should also focus on the sacrifices that are still taking place as well as those that were made 16 years ago: the active duty military separated from their families and the reservists who are putting their life on hold in order to serve their country.

Col. James Suhr, the commander of the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard base, spoke of the diligence practiced by the men and women in his command. He cited how recently two F-15s scrambled to escort a Canadian airliner back to Montreal because of a report of a passenger attempting to break into the cockpit. The airliner landed safely and the passenger was apprehended without further incident.

Historians will undoubtedly argue for years to come how the tragic events in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania came to be and their impact on the nation. What shouldn’t be ignored is this war is still on going and it is still affecting American lives.