09/11/2026
25 YEARS AGO TODAY.
Take a moment and think back.
Where were you?
What were you doing when you first heard that a plane had hit the World Trade Center?
Maybe you were at school. Maybe you were at work. Maybe you were at home watching the television as the unimaginable unfolded in front of us.
For many of us, the morning of September 11, 2001 is one of those moments where we can remember exactly where we were, who we were with, and how the world seemed to stop.
We watched the towers burn.
We watched people run.
We watched our nation come together.
And we watched thousands of first responders run toward the danger while everyone else was trying to get away from it.
Firefighters climbed those stairs knowing the danger was real.
Police officers rushed toward the chaos.
Paramedics and EMS personnel went where they were needed.
Dispatchers answered calls.
Civilians helped strangers.
And countless people showed courage in ways that may never be fully known.
Some never came home.
343 firefighters and paramedics.
23 NYPD officers.
37 Port Authority police officers.
And thousands of innocent people lost their lives that day.
Behind every number was a person.
A father. A mother. A son. A daughter. A husband. A wife. A brother. A sister. A friend.
And behind every person who was lost was a family whose lives were changed forever.
Twenty five years later, we remember them.
We remember the lives they lived, the people who loved them, and the sacrifices they made.
We remember the families who were left to carry an empty chair, an unanswered phone call, and a lifetime of memories.
We remember the courage of the first responders who answered the call.
And we remember the ordinary Americans who became heroes simply by refusing to leave someone behind.
September 11 changed our country.
It changed the way we looked at the people who wear the uniform.
And for those of us who serve our communities today, it is a reminder that when the call comes, we don’t always know what waits on the other side of the door.
But we go.
Twenty five years have passed.
Children who were not yet born now wear the uniform.
Buildings have been rebuilt.
Generations have grown up.
But the memories remain.
We will never forget the 2,977 lives lost on September 11, 2001.
We will never forget the families who lost someone they loved.
We will never forget the firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMS personnel, military members, dispatchers, and civilians who answered the call.
And we will never forget what their courage meant to a nation.
Today, we lower our heads in remembrance.
We stand beside the families who still feel that loss.
And we stand proudly with every man and woman who continues to answer the call to protect, serve, and save others.
25 years later, America remembers.
September 11, 2001.
Never Forget. 🇺🇸
