Never Forget
By Sen. John Thune
It’s been 25 years since September 11, 2001, but anyone who lived through that day remembers it vividly. We can still recall exactly where we were when we first saw images of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on television and feeling sick to our stomachs at seeing our country come under attack.
On September 11, we saw the very worst of which humanity is capable, but we also saw the American spirit shine through the darkness. First responders and office workers climbed the stairs of the towers and gave their lives rescuing others. Boats from New York and New Jersey set course for lower Manhattan to get people to safety. And of course, the heroic passengers of Flight 93 stormed the cockpit of the plane and prevented even greater tragedy from occurring.
On the morning of September 11, I was at my Washington office serving South Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives. Like many Americans, I watched the attacks with horror on a television screen. Outside after our office building was evacuated, I saw with my own eyes the black smoke billowing into a blue sky across the river at the Pentagon, and suddenly the fact that America was under attack became very real.
When I was finally able to speak to my daughter, Larissa, on the phone that day, she had two questions: Are we safe, and are we going to get the bad guys? I think most Americans were asking those same questions, and as I visited classrooms across South Dakota after the attacks, students expressed similar fears. My message for these young South Dakotans was the same as it was to my own daughter: America is safe, and we’re going to bring the people who did this to justice.
I was able to say this because of the incredible resolve of the American people and the selfless service of Americans serving in uniform. In the aftermath of the attacks, South Dakota, needless to say, did its share. The South Dakota National Guard was mobilized to secure our state’s airports. And in the ensuing years, thousands of South Dakotans deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them answering a call to duty that they first heard on September 11. Whether visiting troops from our state overseas or welcoming them back to the states, it was humbling to meet these brave men and women and thank them for their sacrifice to keep our nation safe.
On the night of September 11, President Bush said, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.” The heroes of September 11 are part of that foundation. So is the resilience the American people showed in the aftermath. The terrorists tried to destroy our values, our freedom, and our way of life, but they failed. On this anniversary, may we honor the lives that were lost that day and cherish the things that cannot be destroyed.
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