As the passengers on Flight 93 were forming their plan to fight back, Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. And, another interesting note, the first fire crews to arrive on scene were from nearby Reagan National Airport as they had self-dispatched in anticipation of the plane crash. The Pentagon would remain a fire scene under control of the senior firefighter for several days.

Something I was asked a few months after the attacks: “How long did it take America to respond to the attacks of 9/11?” The answer was assumed to be, “A month,” because that’s when we publicly declared war on the Al-Qaeda. (What most people didn’t know then was that we already had select members of our military special forces on the ground in less than two weeks.) The next question was, “How long did it take Americans to respond to the attacks of 9/11?” And the answer is, “Flight 93.”

It is with great national pride and tears in our eyes that we remember the passengers on Flight 93. While that flight crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:02 that morning, it wasn’t used as a weapon. The terrorists’ ultimate target for that flight is guessed to either be the White House or the U.S. Capitol and it was defeated by passengers who refused to go down without a fight. Those passengers embodied what my generation, and I assume those before mine, were taught Americans were supposed to be: generous and charitable friends who would fight tooth and nail against being victimized. Always fight in defense of self or others and never surrender your values no matter what the odds.

While all the passengers and the crew of Flight 93 are recognized for their revolt against the hijackers, it’s generally noted that four men led it and tried to storm the cockpit:

• Todd Beamer
• Mark Bingham
• Tom Burnett
• Jeremy Glick

I will forever consider those four men the first four casualties in the War on Terror. They weren’t unsuspecting victims but were instead fully informed combatants who stepped up to defend their fellow Americans—and they succeeded as much as circumstances allowed. They and their fellow passengers and crew were responsible for saving an unknown number of lives that morning.

In the days that followed, America recovered, but as much as I’ll always remember the morning of 9/11, I’ll remember that morning of Sept. 12, 2001. It was a morning like no other in my memory because America wasn’t divided that morning. There were no political debates on TV; no mudslinging between parties; no attacks on any politician’s character from another. We were all one American people. Flags were flown on houses in numbers I’d never seen before. Neighbors helped neighbors. Strangers helped strangers. People lined up to give blood. I was still in the National Guard and couldn’t pay for my own coffee at 7-Eleven. The American people were unified, proud and outraged. For that day, and a brief few days thereafter, we remembered that what united us was greater than what divided us.

A friend of mine, who has been supporting our deployed military members overseas for decades, I think, said it best. “The best way we can honor those lost on 9/11 is to be the people we were on 9/12.”

And that’s the most important message we need to teach the generations who follow us. It’s easy to teach retribution. It’s easy to teach defense and protection. It’s harder to teach growth, pride and unity as a result of madness and violence. History records the attacks, the deaths, the property damage and more. What we need to teach is the swell of pride and unity that America experienced as we united together as a people. We need to teach that the strength of America isn’t her government but her people.

If you look around today, it’s easy to see examples of behavior demonstrating how we’ve forgotten that lesson; that value. It’s easy to see a generation of adults who never knew the horror of watching the attacks live on TV and seeing people who jumped from almost 100 stories up to escape the heat of hell on earth. We have a generation who haven’t learned about the heroes of the day; those who fought back and those who responded. We need to remind them what a hero is and who those heroes were that sacrificed, intentionally or otherwise, as they tried to save the lives of others.

We lost almost 3,000 Americans that day, 422 of them public safety professionals to include firefighters, law enforcement officers and EMS personnel. Over 10% of those lost were there trying to save the others. It was the single deadliest day for law enforcement in the history of the United States. And as much as I give a hard time to our brothers and sisters in the firefighting service, I bow my head and say prayers for those lost. I remember them with honor and hold them up as an example of sacrifice driven by honor.

We can’t forget. We can’t afford to and yet we’re well on our way to it. Pearl Harbor is a distant memory and Nine-Eleven is well on its way there. We have to do better. It hurts to remember… but we can’t ever forget.

Editor's Note: As I always try to do, as I prepared this, I reached out to my corporate leadership to see if they had any comments they wanted to share.

Chris Ferrell, Endeavor B2B CEO

“As I remember watching the coverage that morning the most striking image seared in my brain after the planes hitting the towers was the courage of the New York first responder running toward danger to save innocent lives. I’ll never forget.”

Bill MacRae, vice president and group publisher

“Like many Americans, I remember where I was when the reports of the attacks took place on Sept. 11, 2001. I was stuck at a traffic light in Norwalk, CT, while admiring how blue the sky was and listening to Imus in the Morning. The light turned green, and the news broke that shocked me and the entire nation. Four planes hijacked by terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people, resulting in the deadliest attacks on U.S. soil since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in World War II.

“Twenty-five years have passed and the memories and pictures that we saw, stories that we heard about innocent civilians who died and the heroic actions of the first responders who laid down their lives to save others on that frightful day come back to us every time this year.

“America was in a different place after the 9/11 attacks. There was a real sense of unity across our nation in the days following the attacks. Today, it often feels like our country is deeply divided and in chaos. I miss seeing the American flag proudly displayed in neighborhoods across the country. I miss seeing members of Congress put their differences aside and stand together. Can we find that sense of unity again? I truly hope so.”