Rescue Muslims to mark 9/11?

It has been 14 years since the date forever seated in our national collective, 9/11/01, which will be marked as the National Day of Service and Remembrance. A few of us will take some time to remember the 2,977 Americans murdered by Muslim extremists.

Yes, I said it -- Muslim extremists, or fundamentalists, which is correct. "Muslims" is not correct.

It was the millenniums' Pearl Harbor, but it won't be much remembered or honored except in pockets here and there.

What I have proposed — and will again — is a national minute of silence at 8:45 a.m., the moment the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

Several countries around the world mark significant events by stopping everything at a given moment.

In America, there will be vigils and moments of silence here and there, but no national expression of our grief, and our resolve.

I ask myself what I, personally, can do, other than take a moment at 8:45 a.m. to reflect on the lives lost and the world changed?

I take a step back from the current Presidential food fight — it seems the number of candidates will soon outnumber the number of states – and expand my view. What's the biggest story out there?

Refugees from the war(s) in Syria and elsewhere. Some 4 million people have been displaced, many are running for their lives and swamping the borders of Greece, Italy, Turkey and elsewhere. Given the post-World War II genocides, I can't say it is the biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of the war, but it is surely among them.

What does this have to do with 9/11?

If you're looking for a breast-beating screed that the civil (and uncivil) wars are all America's fault, or the West's fault, go elsewhere for that. Some part of it is our fault, but self-loathing cures nothing.

I want to take you back to my America, which always was the first nation to help and always helped the most.  My America protected the weak and sheltered the abused.

Is that myth? Yes, partly. But mostly true.

It wasn't true when the U.S., Cuba and Canada all turned away a ship filled with Jews escaping Hitler in 1939.

There were – and are – times when we don't live up to our ideals. America has made mistakes, we have sometimes taken the wrong path. On balance, I believe we have done more good than harm. It isn't even close.

My role, as a patriot (a word anathema in some circles) is to support, encourage and propagate the best meaning of Americanism.

I would like us to use the current refugee crisis to show how good we are, as a country and as a people.

As a country, we must accept more genuine refugees.

Let's start with Syria, where millions have fled already.

With 82 million in population, Germany is distinguishing itself, and leading the world, by promising to take up to 800,000 refugees. Think of how far Germany has traveled from its Nazi past.

Turkey (1.8 million Syrians refugees), Lebanon (1.2 million) and Jordan (630,000), among Arab countries, have opened their arms to their brethren, but the richest Arab states? Saudi Arabia? No. They're busy pumping oil.

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates? No, they're too busy creating islands and skyscrapers to worry about that.

Which group should America stand with?

Obviously with Germany, which faces the same concerns with terrorist infiltration and its economy as we do.

America already has a loyal community of 160,000 Americans of Syrian descent – including Paula Abdul, Jerry Seinfeld, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, screenwriter-producer Callie Khouri, NHL player Brandon Saad – that will gladly help us vet and settle the newcomers. That's what immigrants to America have always done.

Is there a slight risk that some bad guys may slip in? Yes.

My America doesn't turn from risk, it embraces it.

Accepting refugees is what we can do as a nation. What can we do as individuals?

There is a cost to feeding, treating and housing refugees. Pope Francis has called upon Catholics to make room in their homes, when possible.

There are a number of NGOs (non-government organizations) that do the work, starting with the U.N. ranging through religious charities.

One that I have supported for a long time, and which has the top rating from Charity Navigator, is the International Rescue Committee.

The American branch was founded in 1933 following a suggestion by Albert Einstein to help Germans trying to escape from Hitler.

IRC did tremendous work with refugees before, during and after the war, and then with refugees who fled the Iron Curtain, and continues today. It is peerless, non-political and non-partisan.

I have made a donation to IRC in memory of those who perished on 9/11.

Some of you may find that strange, because my money will be used to help Syrian refugees, most of whom are Muslim.

Yes, they are Muslim, but few are terrorists and all are human.

I didn't make the donation because I expect to buy favor for America or the West. They are fleeing to the West.

Do I expect gratitude? Really, yes, I do.

Why?

My grandparents were grateful to America for admitting them.

But that's not why I have donated to IRC, not for the gratitude. I did it because I see it as the right thing to do, the good thing to do.

I am an American, and America is a good country.