Never forget.
More than a hashtag that gains traction for a week or so every fall, it’s a solemn pledge to remember and recount for the next generations the deadly events of Sept. 11, 2001.
On that day, 19 terrorists from the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda attacked the United States, hijacking four commercial airplanes, deliberately crashing two of them into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane crashed purposely into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and the fourth, believed to be destined for the White House, crashed instead in a Pennsylvanie field because the passengers aboard Flight 93 fought back. “The attacks killed 2,977 people from 93 nations: 2,753 people were killed in New York; 184 people were killed at the Pentagon; and 40 people were killed on Flight 93,” according to the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum, located at the site of the former World Trade Center.
Key West has taken its pledge seriously. The island community hasn’t forgotten.
Every Sept. 11, the Alex Vega Key West Firehouse Museum hosts a ceremony to commemorate the lives lost and to honor the firefighters and first responders who ran toward danger to help others, knowing it was likely to be the last call they answered. The city’s fire bell is rung at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m., the times of impact on each of the Twin Towers.
This year, on the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Key West leaders recalled that day, but also, the hours, days and months of unity and solidarity that followed.
“Twenty-five years ago, our nation witnessed the worst of humanity — and the very best of
humanity,” Mayor Sam Kaufman said at the memorial event. “Remembering is how we honor those who were lost. … And it reminds us of something else we should never forget: In the days after Sept. 11, Americans came together. … our differences seemed to disappear. We held onto each other. We wept together, we helped each other. We thanked first responders. We looked after our neighbors. We understood that what united us was far greater than what divided us. We truly united as a people. Twenty-five years later, we need that lesson again. We cannot undo the terrible events of Sept 11, 2001. But we can choose what we carry forward from them: courage, service, compassion, gratitude and unity.”
Commissioner Chris Massicotte recounted the story of a small town in Newfoundland that took in American travelers who were stranded by the closure of air space in the days following 9/11.
“Remembering September 11th also means remembering who we chose to be afterward, and who we still choose to be. On this 25th anniversary, let’s remember those we lost. Tell their stories. Remember the courage. And remember the kindness.”
