John Keane is a guest writer for Eye and is the board chairman of First Coast Crime Stoppers, a nonprofit that pays cash rewards for anonymous tips leading to the arrest of criminal suspects. Keane is a former deputy sheriff, firefighter, public safety governmental affairs officer and executive director of the Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund.
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On September 11th, it will be 25 years since the “attack on America”, but that day, which served as a true test of the American spirit and resolve, will always be remembered in our Country.
Congress has designated September 11th as Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance. We observe September 11th to honor the lives lost and remember our country’s resilience in the face of great tragedy. Let us pause and remember the day our nation changed forever, September 11, 2001.
The catastrophe also altered U.S. foreign policy, drastically changed domestic security practices, and changed the mindset of many Americans who had not previously felt vulnerable to attacks by foreign extremists. Many Americans remember a country before September 11th, and a different one after, and younger Americans only know the country after that date. g Timeline
In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when 19 terrorists hijacked four jetliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in southwest Pennsylvania. More than 2,700 of those victims perished in the fiery collapse of the World Trade Center’s twin towers.
Nearly 400 firefighters and 100 law enforcement officers perished on September 11, 2001, serving and protecting their fellow citizens.
Over 9000 members of our Armed Services died during the War on Terror and associated Military Operations. Thousands more were injured; all volunteered to serve Our Country.
President George W. Bush once said, “Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals, and their children.”
President Barack Obama said, “Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11.”
In some Cities, a moment of silence will be observed at 8:46 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. However, in most other places, the formal ceremonies and official remembrance of September 11th have long since disappeared. In my view, this is shameful, pitiful, unpatriotic, simply terrible.
I urge my fellow citizens to honor, in your own way, the many sacrifices made on September 11th and the ongoing sacrifices made by our first responders and members of the armed forces.
We remember September 11, 2001, as one of our worst days in the history of our Country, but it also brought out the best in us.
I will always remember, and we should never forget, the events of September 11th, 2001.
