**This blog post has not been “edited” or “cleaned up” by an AI program or anyone else. So it might be a little rough grammatically. But that is on purpose. It’s just me writing free-form my feelings about this day. I hope you enjoy it.**
Today is the 25th anniversary of the most shocking day in my life as an American. When I was 19 years old and in my first weeks as a college freshman, terrorists upended our way of life and hijacked four planes and turned them into missiles. Those terrorists caused what was until then an unimaginable amount of innocent loss of life and havoc on our country. It rattled the very soul of the country. The damage and loss of life would have been worse if not for the members of United Flight 93 and the unbelievably courageous and successful action they took to take that plane down in Pennsylvania.
The reason September 11th has defined America and what it means to be an American so much to me is because of the courage shown by so many people on and after that day. That courage shown is what it means to me to be an American. Whether it is the courage of people on hijacked planes calling to say goodbye to loved ones. Whether it was the courage of the ordinary people that boarded Flight 93 and then chose to sacrifice themselves to save countless other lives. Whether it was the courage of New York's finest firefighters and police officers that ran into danger in the World Trade Centers, ultimately saving more lives that could have been lost before the towers fell. And finally, the American soldiers who define bravery as a profession, who took the fight to the people who planned and perpetrated those events. I am forever humbled and proud to be an American because of what each and every one of those people did. That courage and bravery will never be lost on me. I will never forget it.
Sadly, however, many Americans seem to have forgotten the events of 9/11. We have devolved into a constant culture war where we focus on the small (but real) things that divide us rather than what we have in common. As I've said to so many of you over the years, I am an unabashed optimist when it comes to The United States of America, the American People, and the free markets. But it's hard to be optimistic about the way we see our fellow citizens (and sometimes ourselves) behaving towards each other and treating each other. It's never how I want to behave. And yet I can occasionally find myself "othering" people whom I don't agree with. Every year on September 11th I remember what life was like in the aftermath of this date in 2001. The American people came together and were stronger than we have been any time since then.
That strength is so important because the other reality of this day is that I don't only think about the promise of America. It reminds me that America had and still has plenty of enemies, both foreign and domestic. They seem to be plentiful, which is discouraging. There are even people living in America who openly say that we deserved 9/11. It is a regular reminder that I should not take my way of life for granted, even though I often do. I pray for mercy for those people. I think they will need it.
One of my favorite hobbies is reading biographies of some of the nation’s founding fathers. I am constantly awestruck with their vision of America and how they beautifully used words to articulate it. That vision carried this country through 250 challenging yet amazing years. But it seems to me the vision is fading. I don't want to be a part of that. I want to leave this great country greater for my kids and future grandkids. I want the hope of 250 years of American History and 25 years of remembering what happened on September 11, 2001 to be the fuel that helps me be a beacon of light for the people I encounter.
I hope most of you reading this haven’t lost hope and feel, like I do, that there are better days ahead for this country. I choose to use this date to do something small, like writing this, to try to help people feel better about this country and the American people. I invite you to use the memory of this date as an opportunity to do something small yourself like remember optimistic feelings about the future of this country. Maybe you want to do something bigger like reach out to friends and family members that you may have lost touch with over differences that aren’t really that important.
I think we all will see videos today from 25 years ago and remember, with reverence, the innocent lives lost on that day. Like me, I expect you will feel conflicting emotions of pride in this country and anger for those who wish us harm. I plan to use those emotions to propel me forward with hope and confidence in a better tomorrow, and to try hard to a force for good in this great country of ours. Maybe, we can collectively change the tide and see progress over the next 25 years between now and the 50th anniversary of 9/11. That is a vision I can get behind. If you can too, then in the infamous words of Todd Beamer on Flight 93, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.”