Deb Fischer
Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, 2001, the world stood still. Most of us remember where we were when we saw the Twin Towers burning on our television screens. We will never forget the images of blazing skyscrapers, a smoldering Pentagon, or a scarred Pennsylvania field.
Above all, we remember the 2,977 innocent lives taken that day. We remember the husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who never came home. In Nebraska, we remember five of our own: Julie Geis, Monte Hord, Jerrold Paskins, Jennifer Dorsey-Howley, and Navy Capt. Larry Getzfred.
Julie Geis of Beaver Crossing, a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln softball player, was working in the World Trade Center. Fellow UNL graduate and Central City native Monte Hord was there as well, along with University of Nebraska-Omaha graduate Jerrold Paskins. Jennifer Dorsey-Howley, a Lincoln Southeast High School graduate, was working in the World Trade Center and expecting her first child. Navy Capt. Larry Getzfred of Elgin was serving as the senior watch officer in the Pentagon’s Navy Command Center when the building was struck.
It was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history. But in the aftermath, Americans showed the resilience, patriotism, and character that have always defined our country. First responders ran toward danger. Ordinary Americans risked their lives to help strangers. Communities across the country wrapped their arms around grieving families. In the face of unimaginable evil, Americans stood together.
Nebraska played its own important role that day. After the attacks, President George W. Bush arrived at Offutt Air Force Base, home to U.S. Strategic Command. From STRATCOM’s operations center, the president received updates on the attacks and communicated securely with his national security team before returning to Washington. For Nebraskans, that moment remains a powerful reminder of the vital role Offutt, STRATCOM, and the men and women who serve there play in protecting our nation.
A quarter-century later, our country and the threats we face have changed. But one lesson from September 11, 2001, remains clear: America cannot afford to become complacent about its security.
In the years after the attacks, our nation dismantled al-Qaeda’s ability to operate as it once had, killed Osama bin Laden, created the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and strengthened our defenses against terrorism. Today, we confront a broader and more complex range of threats to our security.
That is why we must remain vigilant. We must ensure that our service members and civilian national security professionals have the resources they need to defend our country. And as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will continue working to ensure America remains prepared to confront threats before they reach our borders.
But most of all, September 11 is about the people we lost, the heroes who answered the call, and how our country came together in the face of tragedy. Twenty-five years later, a new generation of Americans has grown up with no memory of that morning. It is now our responsibility to tell them what happened and what America showed the world in the days that followed.
We remember the 2,977 lives taken from us. We honor the first responders who ran toward danger. We salute the men and women who have defended our nation in the years since. And we renew a promise that must endure from one generation to the next: We will never forget.
Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.
Deb Fischer represents Nebraska in the United States Senate. Read her column in the Nance County Journal.