I remember September 11, 2001, though I was just a young child living through it. My dad, an airplane parts manufacturer, left for work early that morning while my mom was home with me and pregnant with my little sister. From our apartment in Montebello, California, more than 2,000 miles away from New York City, my family watched one of the darkest days in American history unfold.
My mom remembers taking me to my grandmother’s house later that morning. She and my grandmother were talking while I sat in the kitchen with the news playing on television. Like the rest of the country, they were trying to understand what had happened when the first plane struck the North Tower. Then they watched the video of the second plane hit. The confusion was gone. America was under attack.
A few hours after my dad arrived at work, his manager gathered everyone together and sent them home. There was no sense of what work needed to be done that day. My aunt remembers being unable to turn away from the television. She had lived just miles away from the Los Angeles riots which were less than a decade earlier, but this felt different. New York was thousands of miles away, yet it did not feel distant. Our family, like millions of others across the country, spent the day watching in disbelief.
Then, on September 12, my mom prematurely gave birth to my little sister. The news was still playing on the television in the delivery room as the aftermath unfolded. My aunt says her birth brought a light to an incredibly dark moment for our family, but thousands of other families were confronting a loss that could never be replaced.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks. Firefighters, police officers and other first responders ran toward danger while thousands of others were trying to escape. Passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 fought back. Behind every number was a person, a family and a story that deserves to be remembered.
I was too young to fully understand everything I was watching that morning. Much of what I know today comes from the memories my parents and aunt passed down to me. That has taken on greater meaning as I have grown older and heard firsthand accounts from people who were there.
Retired FDNY firefighter and 9/11 survivor Tim Brown speaks about that morning. He tells stories about friends who understood how bad the situation was and still went up the stairs because people needed them. Brown has spent the years since preserving the memory of the friends he lost.
In his book The Greatest Love, Brown writes, “‘Never forget’ isn’t just about remembering the fallen. It’s about ensuring their children, their legacy, the next generation would never walk alone.”
Twenty-five years later, that responsibility is increasingly falling to generations with little or no memory of September 11. Some members of Gen Z remember that morning, but many were either not born or were too young. Generation Alpha was born entirely after 9/11. For them and the generations that follow, September 11 will be something they know only through the history and stories passed down to them.
We have a responsibility to get that history right. Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and carried out a deliberate terrorist attack against America. As firsthand memories fade, we cannot allow conspiracy theories or internet speculation to obscure what happened or diminish the sacrifices of those who were murdered and those who gave their lives trying to save others.
What we pass down should not be limited to the terror of that morning. We must also remember the courage that answered it. Firefighters climbed the stairs. Police officers and first responders ran toward danger. The passengers and crew of Flight 93 fought back. Across the country, Americans came together to mourn, serve and support one another.
That is what “Never Forget” asks of us 25 years later. It is more than remembering a date or posting a phrase once a year. It means preserving the stories behind the names, telling future generations what happened and honoring the courage and sacrifice Americans showed when our country was attacked.
Someday, September 11 will pass entirely from living memory into history. My parents and aunt passed their memories down to me. Now our generation must help carry them forward.
We remember the lives lost. We honor the heroes who answered the call. We preserve the truth of what happened so the generations that come after us understand the country they inherited and the sacrifices made to protect it.
We must never forget.
Anthony Velasquez is the Pacific Research Institute’s communications specialist.