25 Year Anniversary Remembrance of 911

Here are my remarks from the 25 year anniversary remembrance of the attacks of September 11, 2001 delivered on the steps of Ashland’s Fire Station #1. At this ceremony, Ashland Fire & Rescue received the donation of the original painting “A Prayer for My Brother” by William Phillips, internationally renowned local artist who worked for Ashland Fire & Rescue early on in his career.

Thank you, Chief Rasor, for your powerful words this morning.

911 was one of those rare events that causes us to measure time in before and after. The world changed for all of us that day.

As a nation, we are deeply indebted to all of the first responders who served their city that day – and as a community, to our first responders here in southern Oregon who consistently move toward crisis as the rest of us move toward safety.

The events of 911 remind us of the risk they take and the sacrifices they are willing to make to protect the rest of us. And we are forever grateful.

Chief Rasor has done such a beautiful job reminding us what this day means from the perspective of first responders, so for our time together, I will focus on the everyday people who were not specially trained for an event like this, but who also stepped forward to help.  

The great boat lift of 911 is chronicled in a short film narrated by Tom Hanks. If you have not seen it, today might be a good day to do so. I have watched it many times and find it deeply moving. It tells the story of the rescue of New Yorkers who were trying to get off the island of Manhattan in the hours after the attacks.

The rail lines and roads off the island were all shut down and the only way out was by boat. People in need of rescue had swarmed to the water’s edge, but there was no plan for a water evacuation of that size.

Coast Guard crews saw a small boat loading as many people as it could take and realized that the only way to get this many stranded people off the island was to call for help from volunteers with boats.

So, they put out a call – anyone with a boat who can help, meet at Governor’s Island. About 15 minutes later, the water was churning with all kinds of boats – tugboats, ferries, party boats.

No one knew what was happening or whether more attacks were coming, but hundreds of boat crews set their fear aside and moved toward the chaos and the unknown because people needed help.

The Great Boat Lift of 911 became the largest sea evacuation in history - larger than the evacuation of Dunkirk in WWII where 339,000 British and French soldiers were rescued over the course of 9 days. On 911, nearly 500,000 civilians were rescued from the island of Manhattan by boat. It took less than 9 hours.

There were so many stories of heroism that day. People who took the time to help strangers who were traveling that terrifying path with them, even though it slowed them down. Many of those heroes made it out, many of them did not.

As we mark this 25-year anniversary, it is altogether fitting that we remember the stories of that day – and equally important that we reflect on the lessons we learned that day. Three in particular stand out to me.

The first is what we are capable of when we remember that we are first and foremost, human beings who love our families and communities and are willing to risk and sacrifice to help one another, even if that sacrifice is for a stranger.

We are Americans not because we share the same skin color, clothes, food, or even language. We are Americans because we have chosen to bind our destinies together as one people.

And when faced with a senseless act of violence, we raced to each other’s aid.

When horror and grief washed over us as a people, we linked arms and did our best to face it together.

We also learned the terrible power of senseless violence. We understand that much better on the after side of 911. Many of us do not know any of the unique human beings who lost their lives that day, but we have all been deeply affected by their passing – by the awareness that a beautiful blue sky day can turn to tragedy in an instant.

We must remember what senseless violence does to human beings – to those who perish and to those who survive, and avoid inflicting that pain on others.

As we move through an era of ever larger disasters and increasing conflict between nations, we must also recognize that part of our commitment to this place we call home is a commitment to do everything we can as individuals to be ready when disaster strikes – not only to help ourselves and reduce the strain on our first responders, but also to help our neighbors – to lean into community, to lean into resilience, to lean into love.

I believe that’s the most important lesson we learned through the heartbreak of 9/11 – to lean in to love.

Thank you for coming out this morning to mark this important anniversary and to remember.

This is what community is all about, safeguarding the lessons of the past while linking arms and facing the future together.