25 Years Later: September 11 Remembrance

Twenty-five years ago, nearly 3,000 innocent Americans were murdered in the deadliest terrorist attack ever carried out on our nation’s soil. Today, we remember the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives who never returned home, as well as the extraordinary heroes who ran toward danger to save others.

September 11 reminds us of both the deadly reality of terrorism in and the extraordinary courage of the American people. We honor those we lost by steadfastly defending the nation they loved – and remaining vigilant against the forces and ideologies that seek to harm it.

But we also remember September 12.

In the aftermath of unimaginable tragedy, Americans came together. Flags hung from porches and overpasses. Blood donation lines stretched for blocks. Churches filled. For too brief a moment, the divisions that too often define us fell away. We were not red states or blue states, but rather simply Americans.

A quarter-century later, an entire generation knows September 11 only as history. It is now our responsibility to make sure they know what happened, who we lost, the courage Americans showed, and the unity that followed. We must also remember that the threat to the American people remains. In some respects, that threat has grown closer than ever. Strengthening our partnerships across the Western Hemisphere is vital to ensuring that those who mean us harm find neither welcome nor foothold in our neighborhood.

We can never forget September 11. May we rediscover who we were on September 12.