25 years. And still, we remember.

25 years. And still, we remember.

We remember a September morning that began like any other and became a day America would never forget.

We remember the 2,977 lives taken too soon.

We remember firefighters climbing stairs while others were coming down. Police officers, paramedics and first responders running toward danger. Strangers helping strangers. Ordinary Americans showing extraordinary courage when it mattered most.

We remember the families who said goodbye that morning without knowing it would be the last time.

And we remember what happened in the hours and days that followed.

America stood together.

We raised our flag. We held our families closer. We mourned together. We prayed together. We helped our neighbors. And in the face of unimaginable loss, we refused to let fear define who we were.

A quarter-century has passed, but time does not erase sacrifice.

It does not erase courage.

And it must never erase our responsibility to remember.

Today, we honor every life lost on September 11, 2001. We honor those who ran toward danger. We honor those who served in the years that followed. And we hold close to the families who have carried that loss for 25 years.

May the generations who remember tell the generations who weren’t there.

May we never forget what was taken from us.

May we never forget the heroes who answered.

And may we never forget what it means to stand together as Americans.

25 years later, we remember.

We will always remember.