A quarter-century after September 11 changed America forever, Jackson County will gather to honor the lives lost, the heroes who answered the call and a promise made by a nation: Never Forget.
For those who remember September 11, 2001, that number almost seems impossible.
It has been a quarter-century since Americans woke up on an ordinary Tuesday morning and within a matter of hours, watched the world they knew change forever.
Twenty-five years since televisions showed smoke pouring from the World Trade Center.
Twenty-five years since a second airplane appeared against the New York skyline and erased any hope that what was happening was an accident.
Twenty-five years since another plane struck the Pentagon.
Twenty-five years since the passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93 fought back against their hijackers before the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Twenty-five years since firefighters, police officers and emergency personnel ran toward unimaginable danger while thousands of others desperately tried to escape it.
And 25 years since Americans made a promise: We will never forget.
On Friday, September 11, Jackson County will have an opportunity to keep that promise.
The Veterans Memorial Park of Jackson County will host the 2026 Patriot Day Observance from 8:30 to 9 a.m. at Monument Circle A quarter-century after September 11 changed America forever, Jackson County will gather to honor the lives lost, the heroes who answered the call and a promise made by a nation: Never Forget.
For those who remember September 11, 2001, that number almost seems impossible.
It has been a quarter-century since Americans woke up on an ordinary Tuesday morning and within a matter of hours, watched the world they knew change forever.
Twenty-five years since televisions showed smoke pouring from the World Trade Center.
Twenty-five years since a second airplane appeared against the New York skyline and erased any hope that what was happening was an accident.
Twenty-five years since another plane struck the Pentagon.
Twenty-five years since the passengers and crew aboard United Flight 93 fought back against their hijackers before the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Twenty-five years since firefighters, police officers and emergency personnel ran toward unimaginable danger while thousands of others desperately tried to escape it.
And 25 years since Americans made a promise: We will never forget.
On Friday, September 11, Jackson County will have an opportunity to keep that promise.
The Veterans Memorial Park of Jackson County will host the 2026 Patriot Day Observance from 8:30 to 9 a.m. at Monument Circle People prayed for strangers.
Political differences suddenly seemed less important.
Neighbors checked on neighbors.
For a moment, Americans weren’t divided by geography, politics, race, income or background.
They were Americans.
The worst of humanity had been displayed before the world on September 11, but so had some of the very best.
Courage. Sacrifice. Compassion. Faith. Service. Unity. Those are also part of the story of 9/11.
Friday’s observance at Veterans Memorial Park will give Jackson County residents a place to remember both the tragedy and the extraordinary courage that followed.
The ceremony will begin with opening remarks and the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence and a Prayer of Remembrance and Resolve.
A guest speaker will offer a reflection.
One of the most solemn portions of the ceremony will be the reading of the timeline of the September 11 attacks accompanied by the tolling of a bell.
The names of Alabamians who died on September 11 will also be read aloud.
The observance will conclude with a closing reflection and “America the Beautiful.”
The program will last approximately 30 minutes.
Thirty minutes out of one morning. Thirty minutes to remember a day that changed the next 25 years.
Perhaps this anniversary carries an even greater responsibility because of something that becomes more apparent with everypassing year.
Millions of Americans now have no memory of September 11.
Today’s high school students were born years after the attacks.
Many of their teachers were children themselves when the towers fell.
For younger Americans, 9/11 exists in textbooks, photographs, documentaries and video clips.
They know the image of the Twin Towers burning.
They recognize Ground Zero.
They have heard the phrase “Never Forget”, but they cannot remember what it felt like to live through that day.
Those who can remember now carry the responsibility of telling the next generations.
Tell them about the people.
Tell them about the firefighters climbing those stairs.
Tell them about the police officers who stayed behind to help others.
Tell them about the passengers aboard Flight 93.
Tell them about the strangers who reached for one another’s hands.
Tell them about the American flags that seemed to be everywhere afterward.
Tell them about crowded churches and candlelight vigils.
Tell them how quiet the skies seemed when the airplanes stopped flying.
Tell them how uncertain everything felt, and tell them how Americans responded.
Because someday there will be no one left who can begin the story with the words,
“I remember that day.” Then remembering will belong entirely to the generations who were told.
Twenty-five years is a milestone for a nation.
For the families of those killed on September 11, however, those years have been measured much differently.
Twenty-five Christmas mornings.
Twenty-five Thanksgivings.
Twenty-five birthdays.
Twenty-five anniversaries.
Twenty-five years of graduations, weddings, births and ordinary family moments with someone missing.
Children grew up without parents.
Parents grew old without children.
Spouses continued lives they once expected to share with someone else.
The country remembers September 11 once each year.
For those families, there has never been a day when September 11 completely ended.
That, too, is why America must continue to remember.
Every American made a promise in the days after September 11, a promise that was never supposed to change.
Never Forget.
Not after five years.
Not after 10.
Not after 20.
And certainly not after 25.
So Friday morning, Jackson County has an opportunity to stop.
To say their names.
To hear the bell toll.
To lower our heads.
To remember those who went to work and never came home.
To honor those who ran toward danger.
To remember the military families whose sacrifices continued long after the smoke cleared.
And perhaps, for a few moments, to remember what it felt like when Americans stood shoulder to shoulder and understood that what united us was far greater than what divided us.
We remember.
by Heather Dohring
