On 9/11/09, my son had just started his third year in a Manhattan high school. Although about a mile north of Ground Zero, he saw the thin coating of ash covering the cars, and he inhaled the stench of burning buildings and suffering humanity. It took a long time to get home to the northern suburbs that night, but as we finally sat at dinner, not knowing what to expect next, I asked him if this had changed his plan to attend the US Naval Academy. He replied that, had he not been too young, that he would already have...