ERIE, Pennsylvania—There are some days that never leave you. September 11, 2001, is one of them.
As governor of Pennsylvania, I spent that day confronting events that no public servant—or, frankly, any American—could have imagined. Late that afternoon, I stood in a field outside Shanksville where United Airlines Flight 93 had come to rest after a violent struggle between ordinary Americans and extraordinary evil. First responders had rushed to the scene hoping to find survivors. All they found was a charred, smoking hole in the earth as families waited for answers that would never ease their pain.
It is impossible to stand on that sacred ground without being forever changed.
That day profoundly shaped the next chapter of my own public service. In the weeks that followed, I resigned as governor after US President George W. Bush called me to a different kind of service—tasking me with rethinking how our nation would protect Americans against a new and evolving threat. I had the extraordinary privilege of becoming our country’s first secretary of homeland security, helping build a new department from the ground up with a mission to secure our nation while preserving the freedoms that define it.
I accepted that responsibility because of what I witnessed on September 11 and in the days that followed. Then, and now, I am moved by the heroism of the forty passengers and crew members on Flight 93, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow Americans. I think, too, of the firefighters climbing the stairs of the World Trade Center as thousands fled downward, and of the first responders and volunteers arriving without being asked. From Shanksville to Lower Manhattan to the Pentagon, Americans answered the call simply because others needed help.
Twenty-five years later, nearly 100 million Americans have no personal memory of September 11. For them, 9/11 risks becoming an event to be casually researched with ChatGPT, summed up in a paragraph or two, instead of a living reminder of the price of freedom, the resilience of our nation, and the need for continued vigilance against emerging threats.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of September 11 is an occasion for a national commitment to understanding the horrific events of that day and how Americans, supported by friends around the world, responded to them. Those lessons have never been more important as the United States and its partners and allies confront new challenges to homeland security, ranging from cyberweapons to biological agents engineered with the help of artificial intelligence.
This responsibility extends beyond policymakers. It belongs to all of us. Parents should tell their children where they were on that day and what they witnessed and how it made them feel. Schools should ensure that students understand what happened and why it mattered. Young people should visit memorials, hear from survivors and first responders, and learn the names and stories behind the headlines. A great place to start is the powerful new education effort from the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum told by the children and grandchildren of 9/11 victims. The Friends of Flight 93 in Shanksville also offers extensive education programs to schools across the country about the heroes on board that hijacked flight.
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, I accepted the responsibility to serve our nation because I believed, and still believe, that each generation has a duty to meet the moment it is given. I was just one member of a generation of Americans who answered this historic call.