Twenty years ago our lives changed forever. In minutes, millions of American’s and others around the world witnessed the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center Towers in Lower Manhattan, the attack on the Pentagon in Virginia and the crash of United Flight 93 in PA.

At 08:46AM to 10:28AM, the world witnessed tragedy, sadness, fear and angry. The one thing we never lost was hope. As families of thousands would never be the same again from those losing mothers, fathers, son & daughters to wives, husbands, brothers & sisters, we never lost hope. Hope gave us a sense of comfort that we can get through this better and stronger than before. Hope that would unite us and bring us together like never before. Hard to think this all happened 2 decades ago. On a day as similar as today. Blue skies with cool temperature in the NY/NJ area indicating fall is right around the corner.

A lot has happened over these last 20 years, good and bad but one thing remained…hope. Our hope for today is different. Our hope today is to pray we never lose sight of those who perished on that fateful morning and those affected in the days, months and years after. Our hope is we keep honoring and remembering these men and women from all walks of life, race, religion and creed by continuing to keep their memories alive for generations years to come.

As first responders, it is our duty to honor and remember the firefighters, police, EMTs, paramedics and all those men & women who sacrificed their lives that day and those that lost their lives thereafter. Honor these men and women through actions not solely our words. Words come and go but action adds meaning. Honor them through dedication to our job. Continue to train hard, treat each other with respect and never lose sight of why we do what we do each and every time the bell goes off and each and every time we put on the uniform and walk out that door.

When we answer the alarm, we do it for those who came before us and for those who will be following in our footsteps.

On this 20th anniversary of September 11th, remember why you do what you do and dedicate ways to make yourself better than yesterday. If not for anything else but do it for those who gave their lives for it.

Until next time; work hard, stay safe & live inspired.