The events of 9/11 caused America to promise, “We will never forget.” This meant to never forget the 3,000 victims of mass murder. To never forget the heroic actions of emergency personnel and average citizens. To never forget how that day felt, to ensure a similar event would never happen again.
President George W. Bush set the tone for “remembering” on the evening of September 11 in his speech from the Oval Office: “This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.
“None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.”
And in the wake of a collective tragedy, Americans did unite.
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394261 77: Smoke spews from a tower of the World Trade Center September 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes hit the twin towers in an alleged terrorist attack on New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Smoke, flames and debris erupts from one of the World Trade Center towers as a plane strikes it Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The first tower was already burning following a terror attack minutes earlier. Terrorists crashed planes into the two buildings and collapsed both towers. (AP Photo/Chao Soi Cheong)
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NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 13: This 13 September, 2001, photo shows New York Police Department (NYPD) members on patrol in the World Trade Center Complex in New York. At C is the collapsed 7 World Trade Center. (Photo credit should read JAMES ESTRIN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Ash covers a street in downtown New York City after the collapse of the World Trade Center following a terrorist attack Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Bernadette Tuazon)
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Medical and emergency workers, who are standing in front of the Millenium Hilton, look towards where the World Trade Center towers used to be, after a terrorist attack on the twin towers of lower Manhattan, Sept. 11, 2001. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/AP)
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New York, NY, September 27, 2001 — This waterfront building sustained considerable damage during the collapse of the World Trade Center. Photo by Bri Rodriguez/ FEMA News Photo
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With the skeleton of the World Trade Center twin towers in the background, New York City firefighters work amid debris on Cortlandt St. after the terrorist attacks in this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 file photo. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, FILE)
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Women wearing dust masks flee across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn following the collapse of both World Trade Center towers Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 in New York. The towers previously loomed tall in the skyline behind. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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The south tower begins to collapse as smoke billows from both towers of the World Trade Center, in New York, in this Sept. 11, 2001, file photo. In one of the most horrifying attacks ever against the United States, terrorists crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center in a deadly series of blows that brought down the twin 110-story towers. This year will mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks. (AP Photo/Jim Collins/FILE)
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A destroyed Brooks Brothers store near ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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People run from the collapse of World Trade Center Tower in this Sept. 11, 2001, file photo, in New York. Charlie Ross is seen fourth from the left. This year will mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett/FILE)
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A destroyed fire truck on September 14, 2001 near ground zero after the September 11 attacks.(AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)
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Survivors of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York make their way through smoke, dust and debris on Fulton St., about a block from the collapsed towers in this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 file photo. (AP Photo/Gulnara Samoilova,FILE)
Wes O’Donnell is an Army and Air Force veteran and writer covering military and tech topics. As a sought-after professional speaker, Wes has presented at U.S. Air Force Academy, Fortune 500 companies, and TEDx, covering trending topics from data visualization to leadership and veterans’ advocacy. As a filmmaker, he directed the award-winning short film, “Memorial Day.”
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