There are dates in American history that represent celebration.
Others represent sacrifice.
September 11, 2001, is a day we remember.
Twenty-five years later, the images and stories of that morning remain part of America's collective memory.
The World Trade Center.
The Pentagon.
Flight 93.
The first responders running toward danger.
The passengers and crew who fought back.
The families who waited for phone calls that never came.
The thousands of ordinary people whose lives changed forever in a matter of hours.
At Common Bond Supply Co., September 11 isn't a day for slogans or celebration.
It's a day to remember.
To honor.
And to make sure another generation understands why we promised:
Never Forget.
September 11, 2001
On the morning of September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes.
American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew members attempted to regain control of the aircraft.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed.
They were office workers.
Travelers.
Flight crews.
Firefighters.
Police officers.
Emergency medical personnel.
Military personnel.
And ordinary people who began that Tuesday morning expecting it to be another ordinary day.
It wasn't.
The First Responders Who Ran Toward Danger
One of the most enduring images of September 11 is the sight of first responders moving toward the World Trade Center while thousands of others were desperately trying to escape.
Firefighters climbed stairwells carrying equipment as civilians descended.
Police officers helped evacuate buildings and surrounding streets.
EMTs and paramedics established treatment areas and cared for the injured.
Dispatchers coordinated an emergency of unimaginable scale.
They knew the danger.
They went anyway.
The Fire Department of the City of New York lost 343 members on September 11.
Members of the New York City Police Department and Port Authority Police Department were also among those killed.
For America's first responder community, September 11 remains deeply personal.
It represents the extraordinary risks firefighters, police officers, EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers, and rescue personnel accept when they answer the call.
Flight 93 and Pennsylvania
For those of us in Pennsylvania, the story of United Airlines Flight 93 carries particular significance.
The passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 learned that other hijacked aircraft had already been used as weapons.
They faced an impossible situation.
And they made a decision.
They fought back.
The aircraft crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone aboard.
Investigators concluded that the hijackers intended to strike a target in Washington, D.C.
The actions of the passengers and crew prevented them from reaching it.
Their story has become one of the defining examples of courage from September 11.
Ordinary people were placed in extraordinary circumstances.
They acted.
The Pentagon
At 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon.
Military personnel and civilian employees were among those killed.
Once again, first responders rushed into danger.
The attack on the Pentagon made clear that September 11 wasn't simply an attack on New York.
It was an attack on the United States.
New York.
Virginia.
Pennsylvania.
Three locations forever connected by one morning.
The America of September 12
There is another part of the September 11 story worth remembering.
September 12.
Americans were shocked.
Angry.
Grieving.
Uncertain about what would happen next.
But something else happened.
People came together.
American flags appeared on houses, businesses, fire stations, overpasses, vehicles, and front porches.
People donated blood.
Volunteers traveled to help.
Communities held vigils.
Strangers helped strangers.
First responders from across the country traveled to New York.
Political differences didn't disappear.
America's problems didn't disappear.
But for a time, what Americans shared seemed more important than what separated them.
For a company named Common Bond, there's something particularly meaningful about remembering that.
A Generation Answered the Call
September 11 also changed the lives of an entire generation of American service members.
In the years that followed, men and women joined the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and later continued serving through decades of military operations associated with the post-9/11 era.
Some were already serving when the attacks occurred.
Others were children watching the events unfold who would eventually put on a uniform themselves.
Deployments followed.
Families spent months apart.
Service members were wounded.
Lives were lost.
Veterans returned home carrying experiences that would remain with them long after their uniforms were put away.
Remembering September 11 also means remembering the generation that answered the call afterward.
Remember the Names, Not Just the Images
September 11 is often remembered through photographs.
The skyline.
The smoke.
The firefighters.
The rubble.
The American flag at Ground Zero.
But behind every historic image were individual people.
Nearly 3,000 lives meant nearly 3,000 stories.
Parents.
Children.
Husbands.
Wives.
Brothers.
Sisters.
Friends.
Coworkers.
Neighbors.
The scale of September 11 can sometimes make it difficult to comprehend the human cost.
That's why remembrance matters.
Numbers tell us how large the tragedy was.
Names remind us who was lost.
Never Forget Must Mean Something
"Never Forget" became one of the defining phrases associated with September 11.
Twenty-five years later, those words carry a new responsibility.
Millions of Americans alive today weren't born when the attacks happened.
Many others were too young to remember them.
For those who lived through September 11, the responsibility is no longer simply to remember.
It's to tell the story.
Tell younger generations what happened.
Explain who responded.
Talk about Flight 93.
Visit the memorials.
Learn the names.
Listen to survivors.
Listen to firefighters, police officers, EMTs, veterans, and families whose lives were permanently changed.
History survives when one generation makes the effort to pass it to another.
25 Years Later
In 2026, America marks 25 years since September 11, 2001.
A quarter century.
For some, it feels impossible that so much time has passed.
For younger Americans, September 11 has always been history.
That makes this anniversary especially important.
We should remember the tragedy.
But we should also remember the courage.
The firefighter climbing the stairs.
The police officer directing people to safety.
The EMT treating the injured.
The service member standing ready.
The passenger aboard Flight 93 deciding to act.
The volunteer arriving to help.
The neighbor checking on a neighbor.
September 11 showed us humanity at its worst.
It also showed us extraordinary examples of humanity at its best.
Our Common Bond
Common Bond Supply Co. was built around the belief that there are things capable of connecting people across different backgrounds.
Service.
Sacrifice.
Duty.
Courage.
Community.
Brotherhood.
Those words aren't marketing language on September 11.
They describe what Americans witnessed that day.
First responders served.
Ordinary citizens showed courage.
Communities came together.
Military members answered the call.
Families sacrificed.
And strangers helped one another simply because another American needed help.
That's a Common Bond worth remembering.
September 11, 2001 — Never Forget
This Patriot Day, take a moment.
Remember the people who went to work and never came home.
Remember the passengers and crews aboard the four flights.
Remember the firefighters, police officers, EMTs, paramedics, military personnel, and other responders.
Remember the passengers and crew of Flight 93.
Remember the families.
Remember those who spent months working at Ground Zero and the Pentagon.
Remember the military members and families whose lives were shaped by everything that followed.
And remember what Americans discovered in one another during the days after the attacks.
Twenty-five years have passed.
The responsibility to remember hasn't.
September 11, 2001
We Remember.
We Honor.
We Will Never Forget.
— Common Bond Supply Co.