Statement: 25th Anniversary of 9/11
Twenty-five years ago today, I was a young man drinking bad coffee and eating a lox bagel at my local coffee shop, half-listening to the morning news and talking to my friends, when CNN on the shop’s hanging box TV cut to breaking footage of something happening in "the big apple." I remember that morning — crisp, ordinary and then suddenly not. Like most people my age, I can tell you exactly where I was standing, what I was doing, and the ordinary conversations I was having until they tipped into something none of us had language for yet.
So many years later, that morning still marks a line through my life and through the lives of many around the world. September 11, 2001, wasn't only an American tragedy, though it struck America's heart first and hardest. It reshaped global politics, security and daily life for people who had never set foot in New York, Washington or Pennsylvania.
Today, a quarter of a century on, I think of the nearly 3,000 people who never came home that day, and of the first responders who ran toward the towers while everyone else ran away. Many of those who survived that morning have since been lost to something slower: cancers and respiratory illness tied to the toxic air of Ground Zero. More FDNY firefighters have now died of 9/11-related illness than were killed in the attacks themselves — a quiet, ongoing sacrifice that deserves as much remembrance as that Tuesday morning.
I think of the men and women, American and allied, who went on to serve in the years after — 158 Canadian soldiers and 457 British service members among those who gave their lives in Afghanistan alone, standing beside American troops under NATO's Article 5, invoked for the first and only time in its history, because an attack on one was, for once, treated as an attack on all.
And I think of Gander, Newfoundland, a town of fewer than 10,000 people that took in 6,600 stranded passengers from 38 diverted jets when U.S. airspace closed, more than doubling in size overnight, and simply opened its homes, schools, and kitchens for days until people could go home. It's one of the quieter stories of that week, but it says something true: when it mattered, our friends, neighbors and family didn't stand at a distance. They showed up.
The events of that cold September morning aren’t just a date on a calendar. It shaped a generation — how we travel, how we see security, how nations think of one another. Nothing about the world after that morning was the same as the world before it.
So today, I'm remembering the lives taken, the responders who ran in and are still paying for it, the soldiers of several nations who carried the fight forward, and the ordinary people who reminded us what solidarity looks like. We owe them the simplest thing we can still give: we won't forget.
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The events of 9/11 continue to impact many lives. Those who may be interested in supporting ongoing charitable activities can explore the following organizations:
For First Responders & Health Advocacy
FealGood Foundation: Explicitly focuses on advocacy, medical health tracking, and financial support for 9/11 emergency personnel and recovery workers facing long-term health crises stemming from Ground Zero.
FDNY Foundation and New York City Police Foundation: Both institutions predate 9/11 but continue to receive excellent marks for directly funding equipment, training, and mental health support for active NYC first responders and their families.
Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund: Manages a highly transparent educational fund that has distributed millions in college tuition aid to the children and spouses of 9/11 victims and permanently disabled responders.
First Responders Children’s Foundation: Created immediately following the attacks to provide college scholarships, emergency grants, and mental health resources to children who lose a first responder parent in the line of duty.
Voices Center for Resilience: Founded by affected family members, this group focuses heavily on mental health care, trauma support, and long-term wellness tracking for survivors and families.