Twenty-five years ago, a beautiful September morning became a day America would never forget.
For those who lived through September 11, 2001, there are moments that remain frozen in time.
8:46 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
9:37 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.
9:59 a.m. The South Tower of the WTC collapses.
10:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
10:28 a.m. The North Tower of the WTC collapses.
Times on a clock that became part of our history.
We remember where we were when we first heard the news. We remember watching the impossible unfold. We remember the fear and uncertainty.
But we also remember something else.
We remember the first responders who ran toward danger while others were running away.
We remember strangers helping strangers.
We remember the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who, knowing what had already happened, fought back.
We remember the rescue and recovery workers who returned day after day, and the thousands who would later become sick or lose their lives because of their service.
And above all, we remember the 2,977 people who went to work, boarded airplanes, reported for duty, said goodbye to their families, and began an ordinary Tuesday morning – but never came home.
Today, remembrance carries a new responsibility.
A generation has grown up knowing September 11 only as history. They cannot remember that morning.
So those of us who can must remember for them.
We must tell them about the lives that were lost.
We must tell them about the courage we witnessed.
We must tell them how, in the hours and days that followed, people reached across differences and stood together.
Twenty-five years later, Never Forget is more than a promise to remember a terrible day.
It is a promise to remember the people.
The lives they lived.
The people who loved them.
The courage shown in their final moments.
And the extraordinary humanity that emerged from one of our darkest days.
