09/11/2026
🇺🇸 25 YEARS LATER — WE REMEMBER
Twenty-five years.
For some, September 11, 2001 still feels like yesterday.
For others, the memories have faded.
And for an entire generation—including every cadet standing in our formation—9/11 is something that happened before they were born.
They didn't watch the second plane hit.
They didn't see the towers fall.
They didn't experience the silence, fear and uncertainty that followed.
And they didn't experience what happened afterward, when Americans from every walk of life answered the call to serve.
The Instructor did.
Twenty-five years ago, a young Soldier at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, conducting live-fire and r***e marksmanship training, preparing for a deployment to Jordan, when the reports started coming across the radio.
Remember thinking almost immediately:
We're going.
No speech. No need for someone to explain what this meant for those of us wearing the uniform. Something had changed, and our generation was going to be called.
What followed became more than two decades of war and sacrifice for our nation. It became a significant part of military careers and the lives of countless servicemembers and their families.
Today, 25 years later, standing somewhere very different.
In front of young people.
Over the past several days, our Cougar Battalion cadets have trained, rehearsed, carried flags, prepared formations and worked alongside other programs at Lawrence County High School for today's remembrance.
Some might see those things as simply another school activity.
We don't.
Because someday there will be no one standing in front of these young people who personally remembers September 11, 2001.
That's why we teach it.
Not to glorify war.
Not to reopen old wounds.
But to make sure they understand the service, sacrifice, courage and unity that followed one of the darkest mornings in American history.
Nearly 3,000 people went to work, boarded airplanes, reported for duty or simply began an ordinary Tuesday morning and never returned home.
Thousands more would answer America's call in the years that followed. Some never came home. Others returned carrying wounds that weren't always visible. Families carried that burden with them.
The Army Instructor was one of those who answered.
And if someone asked today whether we would do it again, knowing everything we know now?
Without hesitation.
The role today is different.
Twenty-five years ago, We carried r***es, flew in helicopters, and rode in tanks.
Today, we help develop young people.
And maybe that's how our own story with September 11 comes full circle.
Then, we answered the call.
Today, we teach the next generation why it mattered.
Because after 25 years, some have forgotten.
Some never knew.
Our cadets will know.
Today, the Lawrence County High School JROTC Cougar Battalion remembers.
We remember the innocent.
We remember the fallen.
We remember the first responders.
We remember those who answered the call.
And we remember the families who carried the burden.
🇺🇸 September 11, 2001 — September 11, 2026
25 YEARS LATER. NEVER FORGOTTEN.
Lawrence County School District LCHS Principal's Posts LCHS JROTC Alumni 6th Brigade Army ROTC Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Lawrence County Fire Board
