341st MW commander urges Airmen, citizens to pause for rememberance

  • Published
  • By Col. Mike Fortney
  • 341st Missile Wing
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  For the past few years we've paused on September 11th to remember and reflect. This day has been called "Patriots' Day" and in April of this year our President declared September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

While what we call this date may have changed, the purpose for our pause today remains the same. We pause to remember what happened on September 11th and we pause to honor those who served and sacrificed on 9-11 and the days and months that followed.

It's important that we remember. As our Nation's Airmen, we have a duty to remember. We must remember the past in an effort to strengthen our resolve to do all in our power to keep the events of 9-11 from happening again. As America's Sword and Shield we must never let ourselves forget the attacks on that day, the individual and collective pain the citizens of this Nation felt, and we must re-play these memories to re-commit ourselves to doing all in our power to keep this from happening again.

We also pause every 11th day of September to remember those who sacrificed so bravely on that day and the days and months that followed. From the firefighters, police, and emergency medical responders who rushed into areas around the twin towers as smoke and panic filled the streets only to perish in the line of duty. To brave citizens like Todd Beamer and his colleagues whose "Let's Roll" call to action against that plane's terrorist hijackers kept Flight 93 from finding a target. To our uniformed brothers and sisters who took the flag after the dust settled and took the fight to the enemy, many of whom gave their all. So we also pause on this day to remember these heroes.

So I urge each of you to pause on this day. We pause as Airmen to remember what happened and to re-commit ourselves to doing all in our power to never let it happen again. And we pause as citizens to remember the victims and heroes of 9-11 who sacrificed so much.
It's important we remember.