Patriot Day: Remembering Lives Lost and Fulfilling Our Duty to Remember, to Honor, and to Do Good

“Where were you during 9/11?”

There’s a reason why most of us remember . . . why we will never forget this moment in our nation’s history. It was the first foreign attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor in 1941, the “Day of Infamy.” For the first time in decades, our sense of security had been challenged in a way that would change the way we live forever. This day serves as a reminder of our resilience and strength and the importance of caring for our community.

On September 11th, I was scheduled for a meeting in the Twin Towers, as they were known. I would have been there, but my daughter Cayley asked me to do something that was out of character for her, to watch her volleyball game. So I decided I could cut it close and take the first flight out the next morning and still make my mid-morning meeting. When I arrived at the airport, we watched as the first plane hit. I still intended to go . . . my meeting was in the other tower. We thought it was an accident. Then the second plane hit and all the screens at O’Hare soon went blank. 

The people I was scheduled to meet perished that day, along with a high school friend, Todd Rancke, who was survived by 3 children and his wife.

In 2009, Congress instituted September 11th as a National Day of Service, which was proposed by David Paine and his friend Jay Winuk who lost his brother, a volunteer firefighter and EMT in the line-of-duty at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Paine and Winuk’s vision was simple: to honor the lives lost by doing good for others. 

While 9/11 brought out a newfound patriotism for millions of Americans in the years following the 2001 attacks, as time has gone on, I’ve seen a shift. Each year, more meetings are scheduled, conferences held, and acknowledgement of the day has waned. 

No matter how much time has passed, I believe it remains important that we remember not only the tragic events of this day . . . events that took the lives of over 3,000 people . . . changing the lives of thousands more family members, colleagues, neighbors, and friends of those lives lost . . . but also the heroic acts, many that we know about and many that we will never know. 

We can’t forget the firefighters, police officers, EMTs, businesspeople, interns, custodians . . . New Yorkers . . .  and so many more people who still live with painful memories and loss. I want to extend grace and sympathy today to those who have a close personal connection to September 11th. Our thoughts are with you.  

And for the rest of us who were lucky enough not to be directly impacted, take just a moment (maybe more) to hug someone you love, to call someone to tell them you’re glad they are ‘with you’ and to be grateful for all we enjoy.  

Today, I am proud of Transcarent’s effort to honor 9/11 as the day of service that it is by giving back to communities in need across the country. We have team members packing meal kits in Chicago for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (I’ll be joining them), making breakfast for kids in Minneapolis through Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, assisting elderly neighbors in Denver with yard work through A Little Help, and many more, along with folks virtually and in several different cities writing Love Notes for the American Cancer Society.

Today, please be mindful of the significance of this day, be sensitive and supportive to those around you as this day can be difficult for many, and most importantly. . . do something positive. Really.

I’ll close the note with a passage from The White House in the President’s proclamation from today:

Over the last 23 years, what was destroyed, we have repaired.  What was threatened, we have fortified. What was attacked — the indomitable American spirit — prevailed. That is who we are. That is the soul of our Nation. There is nothing we cannot accomplish when we defend with all our hearts that which makes us unique in the world: our Democracy. That is what the heroes and patriots of 9/11 did. And that is what we must all continue to do today.

To observe this day with service, find opportunities to volunteer in your community at  www.americorps.gov/911-day