By Lucretia Hughes
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump honored the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Tuesday, delivering a message of American strength beside a steel beam recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center.
The “Steel Across America” ceremony was held on the Ellipse near the White House, two days before the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the attacks that changed America forever.
“This battered piece of steel here today on the Ellipse is a reminder that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer and no terror can destroy,” Trump said.
That message is needed today.
The steel beam was recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center and carried across the country by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Its scars remain visible — a permanent reminder of what America lost and what our people overcame.
Approximately 150 first responders from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania attended the ceremony alongside administration officials, members of Congress and relatives of those killed.
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people. Two planes struck the World Trade Center in New York. Another crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth went down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew members fought back.
The attacks brought unimaginable grief, but they also revealed the character of the American people.
Firefighters ran into burning buildings while others were running out. Police officers, emergency workers and ordinary citizens risked their lives to save strangers. Churches opened their doors. Americans stood together, prayed together and flew the flag without apology.
Trump honored that courage during Tuesday’s ceremony.
The president posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the 24-year-old equities trader remembered as the “man in the red bandana.” Survivors credited Crowther with helping as many as 18 people escape the South Tower before he was killed when the building collapsed.
Crowther’s mother and sister accepted the award on his behalf.
He was not a celebrity, politician or military commander. He was an American who saw people in danger and chose to help.
Trump also honored New York firefighter and Coast Guard reservist Jeffrey Palazzo, who died while responding to the World Trade Center. The president announced that a new Coast Guard cutter would be named in Palazzo’s honor.
Their stories represent the best of America.
Twenty-five years later, the country remains divided politically and culturally. Too many young Americans were born after the attacks and never witnessed the unity that followed them. For some, Sept. 11 has become another chapter in a history book instead of a national wound that continues to affect families, first responders and survivors.
That is why remembering matters.
We remember the office workers who never returned home. We remember the passengers who knew they were facing death and called their families one final time. We remember the firefighters climbing stairwells carrying heavy equipment while terrified civilians descended.
We remember the Americans aboard Flight 93 who refused to sit quietly and allow terrorists to reach another target.
We also remember that evil attacked this nation, but evil did not defeat it.
The “Steel Across America” tour has transported the World Trade Center beam across the country so Americans can see and touch a piece of that history. It is more than twisted metal. It represents lives lost, families changed forever and a nation that refused to remain on its knees.
Trump’s message was not only about the past. It was a reminder of the responsibility carried by every generation.
America must remain vigilant against enemies who seek to harm its people. Our leaders must protect the homeland, support first responders and refuse to allow political correctness to erase the truth about terrorism.
At the same time, citizens must teach their children what happened and why freedom must be defended.
The unity Americans demonstrated after Sept. 11 should not require another national tragedy to reappear. We can disagree about politics while still loving our country. We can debate public policy without treating our neighbors as enemies.
America survived that terrible morning because courage proved stronger than fear.
The fire consumed buildings. It could not consume the American spirit. Terrorists murdered innocent people, but they could not destroy the nation those people loved.
Twenty-five years later, America must make the same promise once again: We will honor the fallen, defend the living and never forget.
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