Remembering 9/11: We Remember Them All

Every year when September 11 comes around, I find myself thinking less about the buildings and more about the people. I remember the images, of course. I remember watching something that seemed impossible unfold before our eyes. I remember the confusion, the disbelief, and then the realization that our country had been attacked.

Like so many Americans, I remember where I was. But 25 years later, what stays with me most isn’t just what happened that morning. It’s what happened next.

I remember the firefighters walking toward danger while thousands of people were desperately trying to get away from it. I remember police officers, paramedics, emergency workers, and ordinary citizens helping strangers. I remember stories of courage aboard Flight 93. I remember Americans lining up to donate blood, hanging flags from their homes, checking on their neighbors, and asking what they could do to help. For a little while, we seemed to remember that being an American meant something we shared.

Then another group of Americans answered the call. Young men and women walked into recruiting offices. Others who were already serving packed their gear and prepared to deploy. Families watched sons, daughters, husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers leave home, not knowing exactly where their service would take them or when they would return. Some never did. Others came home carrying wounds we could see, while some carried wounds we couldn’t.

Twenty-five years later, those men and women are no longer simply the young troops we watched heading overseas. Many are now middle-aged veterans raising families, building careers, volunteering in their communities, and sitting across the table from us at Patriot Pour gatherings. They are part of the 9/11 story too.

So are the firefighters, police officers, EMTs, dispatchers, and other first responders whose professions took on an even deeper meaning that morning. They didn’t suddenly become courageous on September 11. America simply got a very public reminder of the courage their jobs can require.

That’s one of the reasons 9/11 means something special to me as president of The Veterans Club. Our organization brings veterans and first responders together around a simple idea: Connection, Purpose, and Belonging. We believe relationships matter. We believe continuing to have purpose matters. And we believe nobody who spent part of his or her life standing watch for the rest of us should have to walk through the next chapter alone.

Our mission today is very different from the mission Americans faced on September 11, 2001. But there is something from that time I wish we could recover: we looked out for one another. We talked to our neighbors. We thanked firefighters. We shook the hands of police officers. We stopped veterans in airports. We flew the flag without wondering what political statement someone might attach to it. For a moment, the flag simply belonged to all of us.

I miss that.

Perhaps remembering 9/11 should be about more than looking backward. Maybe it should also remind us of the kind of country we discovered we could be when circumstances forced us to recognize how much we depended upon one another. Patriotism doesn’t require us to agree about everything, nor does it mean pretending our country is perfect. It means understanding that despite our differences, this is still our country, and we have a responsibility to one another.

On September 11, I will remember the nearly 3,000 people who left home that morning and never returned. I will remember the firefighters and police officers who climbed stairs while others were coming down, and the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who fought back. I will remember the first responders who worked at Ground Zero in the days and months that followed, including those whose service ultimately cost them their health and their lives.

I will also remember the men and women who put on our nation’s uniform afterward and the families who carried part of that burden with them. Most importantly, I will remember that the story didn’t end when the television cameras eventually moved on. There are veterans, first responders, survivors, and families who are still carrying pieces of September 11 and everything that followed.

There will be ceremonies. Flags will be lowered. Bells will ring. Names will be read. Those traditions matter because remembrance matters. But I think there is another way we can honor September 11, and it doesn’t require a ceremony.

Call someone. Sit down for coffee with a veteran. Thank a first responder. Check on the friend you haven’t seen lately. Introduce yourself to the person sitting alone. Put the phone away for a few minutes and have a real conversation with another human being. One of the great lessons of September 11 was that when everything else was stripped away, people reached for one another.

Twenty-five years later, maybe that’s still something worth remembering.

To those we lost, we remember you. To those who ran toward danger, we honor you. To those who answered the call to serve, we thank you. And to those still carrying the weight of that day and everything that followed, there is still a place for you at our table.

We will never forget.

Here is a remembrance video made by John Spencer.