As each day goes by, we're reminded again of late last summer, of Sept. 11 and all that we lost as a nation. CBS will be using two hours on March 10 to air an edited video excerpted from a documentary about the NY Fire Department. The filmakers happened to be shooting that morning, and CBS will show footage from their efforts, which include being inside the North Tower as the South Tower collapsed.

A New Jersey radio station was taking calls debating the issue the other day, and I agree with the hosts: this should be shown. It is news, and it is history. For those who think there's been too much coverage, for those who don't want to see any more, there's a simple explanation: don't watch. Watch something else that night; rent a movie. But this is history, and we need to remember. This is the new America.

But I think one of the saddest stories to come from the aftermath, from the recovery and cleanup, shows how deep and complex the impact is. I just read an essay by Notre Dame president Edward Malloy, who visited Ground Zero in October. It's a long account, but down near the end he talks about the effect the search is having on those looking through the rubble.

Including the dogs. Yes, it seems the dogs were getting emotionally scarred, affected by searching through the rubble, hoping to find people alive and only finding corpses. It go to the point where the officials would stage fake searches with living people just to raise the dogs' spirits and help them regain their confidence and hope.

If the dogs are struggling -- or were, this being an account from October -- that says something about the scope and the level these attacks had on America.