ALLENTOWN (TNS) — I still recall the first thing I did when I got home on Sept. 11, 2001.

I hung my flag on my front porch, where it rippled proudly in the breeze.

It seemed like the obvious way to respond to an attack on my country.

I was fortunate I hadn’t known anyone at the World Trade Center or Pentagon or on Flight 93. Yet I felt I had to do something to show my solidarity with those who did.

Many other people felt the same way. Flags flew everywhere. People attended prayer services and vigils. They heeded the call to donate blood in the hope there would be survivors who would need it.

Americans came together in many ways to heal our wounded nation. It didn’t matter who was a Republican and who was a Democrat. It didn’t matter who was white and who was Black. We all felt our country was under attack. The goodwill lasted a long time.

Twenty years later, amid another crisis, we’re at each other’s throats.

Why can’t we unite against the coronavirus as we did against the terrorists? It’s also a great threat to our country’s future.

For 18 months, Americans have bickered about how to respond to that threat, which has killed more people than the terrorists did on 9/11.

People who have asked others to wear a mask have been shot at and punched. School board members who have voted to require students to wear masks have to worry that someone might be coming for them.

Anti-vaxxers have become so intimidating that they have stopped some vaccination clinics by showing up to harass health care workers who are trying to save lives.

The division starts from the top down. First, it was President Donald Trump downplaying the severity of the threat, even after he got seriously ill.

Now, other GOP politicians are continuing that message.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Legislature have made it illegal for businesses and governments to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination from customers or members of the public. Those who do can be fined $5,000.

It’s sad that the party always touting “personal freedoms” refuses to allow business owners the freedom to decide what is necessary to keep their establishments safe. We should be thankful Pennsylvania hasn’t done that.

Other states also have passed laws making it illegal for school districts to require masks to be worn by students and staff.

Locally, Northampton County executive GOP candidate Steve Lynch said at a recent “freedom” rally that he would take “20 strong men” to school boards that have imposed mask mandates and “give them an option. They can leave or they can be removed.”

The COVID-19 pandemic obviously is a lot different from the terrorist attacks against America 20 years ago.

After 9/11, businesses weren’t shut down by the government, destroying livelihoods and leaving families unable to pay their bills. I can’t blame people for being angry about that.

While I believe shutdowns helped reduce the damage from the first wave of the virus, Pennsylvania’s shutdown wasn’t done fairly and lasted too long. And more than a year later, the state and federal government haven’t done enough to get those businesses thriving again, and to get the owners and employees back on their feet.

Many families made even greater sacrifices after 9/11, though. They watched as the government sent their sons and daughters to war in the Middle East. Thousands never returned.

The war on terror has been going on for two decades now. Do we really want the war against the coronavirus to keep dragging on, too?

There’s still time for us to come together and defeat it. My flag continues to wave proudly with that hope.

(Paul Muschick is a columnist for The Morning Call of Allentown.)