Val Demings: “September 11, 2001, is one of those days when everyone of age can remember where they were and what they were doing when…”

“September 11, 2001, is one of those days when everyone of age can remember where they were and what they were doing when the first plane hit. I was a police commander assigned to the Orlando International Airport. It appeared to be a normal day, and then the events unfolded. The planes hit. The towers collapsed. The Pentagon burned. The passengers of Flight 93 mounted their heroic resistance. It appeared time stood still as the world watched the results and the actions of the hijackers, evil men who set out to attack America, to kill Americans. But they could never have killed the idea of America. You see, that idea belongs to us. It will endure as long as we continue to believe in it, to perfect it, and to make it worth fighting for. 2,977 lives, 343 firefighters, 23 New York police officers, and 37 Port Authority officers--they took much from us that day. As a mother, I think of the roughly 100 babies who will turn 18 this year having never known their fathers. Today, I remember the passengers and crew. I remember the first responders who rushed into fire and smoke, dust and rubble in a desperate fight to save whomever they could; who worked for weeks on end, breathing deadly particles, trying to find survivors, or at least identify the dead; heroes who died that day or from illnesses contracted from the search, rescue, recovery; heroes who died as they lived, in service to others, who believed in service above self.…”