09/11/2026
Never Forget - 9/11 Memorial Service
By: Lancaster Fire Dept Chaplain Cathy Ullman
Never forget. We've been saying these words for 25 years. Never forget the pain, the sacrifice, and the bravery of the men and women who ran towards the danger. But what of those who cannot remember because they never really knew? An entire generation has grown up hearing "Never forget" but it is incumbent upon those of us who remember to help them understand. To that end, we must share not only what we experienced, but also what we learned from it.
Many of us remember the mixture of awe and terror watching the news unfold. Those with boots on the ground experienced The smell of jet fuel, burning buildings, concrete, and eventually the thick dust that covered everything. They climbed stairwells filled with smoke and crowded with people trying to escape carrying heavy equipment past frightened civilians coming down, while they continued going up. Ever present were the alarms, radios, screams, collapsing concrete, and the sound of sirens. Many of those responders never made it back out. Others survived carrying physical and emotional wounds that would remain long after the smoke cleared.
So what is it that we are meant to never forget? The horrendous sights and sounds of that dreadful day? The hate that bound us together as a nation - us vs them? Even today, I still see messages of hate as response to this tragedy. But what we need to understand is that underlying these feelings of hate is fear. Fear is just anticipatory grief and grief is a deeply human and natural response to loss. The outpouring of grief led to the creation of spontaneous fence memorials at ground zero. These memorials allowed us to mourn publicly in a way that had not been acceptable since the Victorian era. We should never forget that it is ok to mourn and that mourning in this way, brought people together in love, not hate.
Never forget the bond of the brotherhood and sisterhood that united first responders then and still unites us today. We should take our cue from the late Dolly Parton who, through her song "Hello God", pleaded for comfort, shared humanity, and divine guidance after the tragedy that was 9/11, instead of division.
"We fight and kill each other In your name, defending you
Do you love some more than others? We're so lost and confused."
She hoped it would remind people that faith and hope belong to everyone.
Above all, never forget the love. The love and compassion that we bring to the job every minute of every day is at the heart of who we are. Love of the job, love of community, and the love of humankind. It is certainly what motivated every soul who ran towards those burning buildings and it should be what continues to inspire us every single day.
