09/11/2026
It is hard to imagine it has been 25 years...
It started as a busy Tuesday morning just like so many that had preceded it.
Within hours, nearly 3,000 lives would be stolen, and countless others would be changed forever.
Firefighters, Police Officers and Emergency Medical Personnel raced into the burning towers of the World Trade Center and into the burning rings of the Pentagon helping to save countless innocent lives.
Passengers attempted to overtake their hijackers before United Flight 93 crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania rather than into the U.S. Capitol or the White House.
An entire generation has come of age since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
They have no personal recollections of what life was like in our nation before the events that unfolded that morning.
They have no personal recollections of the fear, the uncertainty, and the horror experienced by millions of Americans that day.
They have no personal recollections of the stories of heroism, of pain, and of loss told by the survivors, their families and their loved ones.
They have no personal recollections of the anger, the resolve, and the unity that overtook our Nation in the many days that followed.
For those of us who did survive and experience that morning, it is our duty to share our stories and our recollections of those days, of those events, and of those loved ones.
Today it is just another work day or school day morning for most of us. As you go about this ordinary September Friday, please take time to reflect. Pause to consider what you would do differently if you knew that today would be the last time you would ever again do the ordinary, the routine, even the mundane things that make up your weekday, your workday, or your school day.
The last cup of coffee in the break room at work.
The last time grabbing lunch with co-workers or friends.
The last time fighting rush hour traffic to get home in time for dinner with the family or in time to watch a child's soccer game.
The last time ever getting gas in the car, or pushing the mower around the yard, or taking the trash cans to the curb.
The last time watching Jeopardy with the family or a Phillies Game at the bar with friends.
The last time having dinner as a family at the kitchen table.
The last time tucking in children, reading them a story and saying their prayers.
The last time getting into bed with a spouse, kissing them goodnight, and telling them "I Love You."
Pause today, and think about what you would say to the loved ones in your life if you knew that today was the last day you'd ever spend with them again. Ever.
We owe it to those who were murdered that day, to those who gave their lives helping their neighbors, their communities, and complete strangers, and to those who have come of age in these past 20 years, to not only remember those who we lost during the ceremonies being held today, but to reflect, all day long, upon all that was lost throughout the day today.
So many lives were forever changed.
We are a strong and resilient Nation. We will all go about our days today in the ordinary course, as we must.
But as we do, please take time today to remember.
Please take time today to reflect.
That tragic day, and the days that followed, showed the better angels in all of us.
We are still that Nation.
We Have To Be That Nation.
Those of us who remember that tragic day and who came together as one in the days that followed, must be the example for those who who have come after.
For so many reasons...
We Must Never Forget.
