The original meaning and significance of our national holidays are quickly forgotten by the American public. We appreciate holidays because they afford us a day off from work; advertising agencies love them because they provide wonderful marketing opportunities. The holidays or anniversaries of key historic events are rarely taken seriously by most people.Is Sept. 11 slowly being forgotten, trivialized and commercialized as well? The first few years after the attacks, we had elaborate commemorative ceremonies at my middle school followed by lengthy classroom discussions.

Once I entered high school, we dedicated less and less time to it. Last year, the principal asked for a moment of silence. When it ended, my teacher wryly observed, "Have you noticed that each year the moment of silence gets shorter?"

Adam Cohen of The New York Times describes how Memorial Day has evolved and lost its original meaning. It was first observed in 1865, during the last year of the Civil War, according to Yale historian David Blight. Hundreds of Union soldiers had died in a Confederate prison in Charleston, Va. and were buried in unmarked graves without coffins.

When the city fell to the armies from the North, the black citizens of Charleston, at great personal risk, reburied all the dead soldiers in a new cemetery they built for them and honored them as heroes who had died fighting slavery.

In the years after 1865, a shift in emphasis became apparent at Memorial Day ceremonies. It became a day to remember all the soldiers who had died in the Civil War, and was no longer celebrated as a victory for racial equality.

Even later, it was redefined again and became a generic holiday to commemorate all dead soldiers from every American war.

Today, says The New York Times, "Memorial Day is little more than the start of summer, a time for barbecues and department store sales."

This first Memorial Day was a unique, transient moment in history, just like Sept. 11. Americans were able to cross cultural and racial barriers to unite for a common cause.

In 1865, black and white people were able to come together to honor the dead who had fallen in the fight for equality. In 2001, firemen, policemen and civilians from every background completely forgot their differences and struggled together to save the victims of the terrorist attacks.

These events were both tests of our nation. We must not forget that at these most difficult of times the people worked together as equals, with shovels to rebury the dead, with buckets to scrape at the debris of the fallen towers.

A frank, open discussion of landmarks in our nation's history is important, not only out of respect for the dead, but to help us understand and draw lessons from the past.

Had we not forgotten the lessons of Memorial Day so readily, we might not have needed a Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s.

It is likewise important to come to an understanding of what took place on Sept. 11. It was a traumatic moment in American history; we need to discuss its meaning and how we ought to react to it.

The forum attended by eight Brandeis students on Sept. 11 to discuss what happened seven years ago was a noble effort; as a nation, we need to do the same on a much greater scale if we are to properly commemorate those who died.