09/11/2026
25 years ago this morning, thousands of Americans said goodbye to someone they loved without knowing it would be the last time.
They poured a cup of coffee. Kissed their children goodbye. Left for work. Boarded a plane. Started what should have been an ordinary Tuesday.
And then, at 8:46 a.m., the world changed.
2,977 people would never come home.
In the midst of unimaginable fear and heartbreak, we also witnessed extraordinary courage. First responders climbed stairwells knowing others were running down them. Strangers reached for strangers. Ordinary Americans became heroes simply because someone beside them needed help.
And across the country, millions watched, prayed, cried, and waited.
Twenty-five years have passed since September 11, 2001. A generation has now grown up knowing that morning only through photographs, recordings, classrooms, and the stories we tell them.
So we must keep telling them.
Tell them about the lives that were lost.
Tell them about the firefighters who climbed higher.
Tell them about the passengers who fought back.
Tell them about the police officers, paramedics, military personnel, coworkers, neighbors, and strangers who chose courage when the world around them seemed to be falling apart.
Tell them that behind every number was a person who was loved and expected home that night.
And tell them that when America was wounded, Americans reached for one another.
Today, we remember those who left home on an ordinary September morning and never returned.
We remember those who ran toward the unimaginable.
We remember the families who have carried an empty chair, an unanswered goodbye, and a September morning that never truly ended.
May their names never fade into history.
May their courage never be forgotten.
And may we never forget what it means to stand together as Americans.
🇺🇸 September 11, 2001. Never forgotten.
