09/11/2026
It is in the brilliance of the midday sun that every light appears identical, joyfully present under a cloudless sky, a reflection of beauty, of optimism, of peace.
But it is not in those moments that we come to understand our strength, our courage, our unending insistence that more can be done, even when our senses have given way to exhaustion, our ideals have been shaken to their very core, and our world has gone dark, filled with smoke, with debris, with uncertainty.
25 years ago, our nation was faced with the single largest act of terror our country has ever known. The lives of 2,977 men, women, and children were taken in a matter of moments, across a scene that resembled only our darkest fears. There was no plan for a scenario such as this. No preconceived notion of what should be done. No script to be followed. And so, in the way only we could, in the way only the United States of America could, we did the only thing we could.
We ran towards the flames, the wreckage, the certain danger that awaited us. Firefighters, police officers, first responders, family, friends, strangers, sprinting into the unknown, looking for anyone, doing anything that could be done, risking everything for the possibility that one more person could be saved. It was these individuals whose shined now, like a lighthouse in storm, like a beacon in the night, leading us, reminding us that even in a moment such as these, we were not to be subdued, that we could not be subdued, in spite of every effort made against the well-being of our nation.
In the days, weeks, and months that followed, those individuals, those guiding lights, proved to us that the values which founded our nation were still ever-present, strengthened with both resilience and compassion, as we rebuilt ourselves, lending hands to those in need, treating strangers as though they were family, and banding together to process, to help, and to overcome.
To all those we lost that morning. To all those who gave of themselves completely. To all those who ran towards the danger.
We will never forget.