Two examples of how newspapers in the United States are seeking readers’ views on the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and how they and the government’s response helped shape the next two decades:

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From the Sunday Republican: One of the dailies in Western Massachusetts (which is at the moment preparing for the effects of the approaching Hurricane Henri) is the Springfield Republican, whose executive editor Cynthia Simison penned a column for today headlined in the newsprint edition “Legacy of 9/11: 20 years later, share your views,” inviting readers to do just that. (Open for digital subscribers.)

”We look at the work and activism taken on by families of those lost, how they turned their personal grief into powerful and positive actions to benefit us all,” Simison writes.

The Republican will “look at how young people not yet born then view 9/11, how they are learning about it and how they think it should be remembered,” she continues. And “Here’s my question for readers: What do you think the legacy of 9/11 is for our nation?”

Near the end of her column, Simison quotes from two parts of  “an editorial written in haste that morning” (of Sept. 11, 2001) for the Springfield Union-News:

”The nation knows now that it is fragile and vulnerable; that a determined group of terrorists poses a greater and more volatile threat to our safety than any previous enemy.”

And . . .

”Yes, there will be hell to pay — and we hope that someone will pay dearly for the death and destruction they have caused. America must respond, but not quickly or blindly. It will likely take months, if not years, to determine who is responsible for the attack. It is a day of darkness for America, but we must be a source of light for the rest of the world in the fight against terrorism.”

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From the Berkshire Eagle: “9/11 then and now: Where were you, and what are your current thoughts?” reads the headline over an invitation in Friday’s newsprint edition of the Pittsfield-based Eagle. (Subscribers, including those on a one-month free subscription, may read.)

“Tell us where you were on Sept. 11, 2001, and share your world two decades later.” The newspaper will “gather the responses and publish a selection of them in a special report next month commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9/11.”

Participants are asked to limit responses to 300 words maximum and get them in by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1.

— Mark Channing Miller