From the Mayor’s Desk: Remembering September 11th

Twenty-five years.

It is hard to believe that a quarter of a century has passed since September 11, 2001, a day that changed our country forever.

Like every American of my generation, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that morning. I remember the disbelief as we watched the images coming from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. I remember the fear, the sadness and then the overwhelming sense that our country had been attacked.

Nearly 3,000 Americans, 2,977 people, lost their lives that day. Among them were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, co-workers and friends. And among them were first responders who ran toward the danger while others were desperately trying to escape it. Hundreds of firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers gave their lives trying to save others. 

Recently, a kind citizen named John brought a book to my office and allowed me to borrow it – a tribute to the victims of September 11.

I have read many accounts of that terrible day. I have seen the photographs. But there was something different about turning the pages of this book. Page after page, I saw the faces of the men and women we lost. Beautiful, smiling faces. So many were young, with so much life still ahead of them.

They were not statistics.

They were people.

The book, Portraits of Grief, was created to tell the stories of those who died. Instead of allowing these individuals to become simply a number associated with one of the greatest tragedies in our nation’s history, their stories remind us who they were and the lives they touched.

One passage particularly struck me. It quotes Walt Whitman:

“The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem.”

These words convey a powerful thought when one considers the lives represented in those pages.

We are a nation made up of millions of individual stories –  backgrounds, beliefs, occupations and dreams. Yet somehow, all of those individual lives become part of one great American story.

Another passage describes something “mysteriously inspiring” about the portraits – the stories of kindness, love and affection that emerged even in the midst of unimaginable loss.

That is what I felt as I turned those pages… sadness, certainly, but also gratitude – gratitude for the lives that were lived, gratitude for the families who loved them, gratitude for the first responders who showed extraordinary courage, and gratitude for the countless Americans who, in the days and weeks that followed, demonstrated that even in our darkest moments, the American spirit can shine brightly.

September 11 was an attack on America. It was an attack on our people, our freedom and our spirit. But it did not destroy our spirit. If anything, it revealed something about America that we should never forget: our resilience. 

Twenty-five years later, we have rebuilt, we have remembered, and we have moved forward. But remembering September 11 also carries a responsibility for the future.

America must always be vigilant. America must always be prepared. America must always be ready for whatever challenge comes our way. We must remain strong enough to defend our people, our freedom and our way of life. There is an old and enduring truth that peace is best preserved through strength.

But our strength is not only found in our military or our preparedness. It is also found in our character, our commitment to freedom and justice, our faith in God and our willingness to stand together when our nation is challenged.

This may be the greatest lesson of September 11: we are not the divided States of America.

We are the United States of America.

25 years later, may we remember those we lost, honor those who served, cherish the freedoms we have been given, and never forget that it is through our oneness as a nation that we will meet whatever challenges lie ahead.

Divided we fall. United we stand. 

Because Natchez – America – deserves more.