Tomorrow is the 15 year anniversary of 9/11. I remember the stunned horror of that day like it was yesterday. I’m sure we all do. We remember where we were, who we were with, and what we thought and felt at the time. It was a day that deeply scarred our nation.
But it didn’t crush us. We rose from the ashes to rebuild, reconnect, and recommit to the American way of life that we love. We managed to move on. Every day that we get out of bed and pursue the dreams that our forefathers gave us the opportunity to achieve, is another day that the terrorists didn’t win.
As 15 years have passed, there are some special groups of people who need to be thanked.
For those who lost their lives on 9/11, we still remember. We always will.
For the families of those who lost their lives on 9/11, we still hold you in our hearts. We always will.
For the first responders, the police, the firefighters, the paramedics, the clergy, the disaster relief workers, THANK YOU. You’ve handled emergencies large and small since that fateful day, and we still salute you. We always will.
For families of all those first responders, THANK YOU TOO. We know you live with the daily uncertainty about whether or not your loved one will return to you. We appreciate the sacrifice you make too. We always will.
For our military, Army, Navy, Air Force, at that site Marines, Coast Guard, and all the students at our military academies, THANK YOU. You step into the breach so we don’t have to. You voluntarily and honorably take up the fight so the rest of us can go about our day and sleep well at night knowing you’re watching over us. You willingly go over there so we can stay right here. You give up so much. It is impossible to describe in words how much this means to our country, to our communities, to me. I stand in awe of you. We support you. We always will.
For our military families, THANK YOU TOO. You tend to home and hearth while your loved one is far from home. You watch every newscast with a measure of apprehension and the dread of a late night knock at the door. The rest of us would crumble under the stress you push through every day. We support you too. We always will.
America has gone through a lot these last 15 years. Economic downturns, strife at home, violence in our streets, and a hundred other forms of turmoil. Yet one thread remains. No matter what happens, individually and collectively, we get up the next day and take a step forward. No matter how painful, no matter how confusing, no matter how uncertain, we take that next step. Then another. And another. Until one day we look up and realize, we’ve made some real progress here. We’ve overcome, transformed bad things into something productive, come together in ways we hadn’t before. The United States isn’t just a place. It’s us. We are America. We are strong. We arise. We always will.