Patriot Day is September 11 to honor the memory of the nearly 3,000 innocent victims who died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
For many of us, Tuesday, September 11, 2001, began like any other weekday. We made our way to work, me home sick from teaching that day. Children attended school, mine in high school and college.
Those of us who weren’t in New York City heard the first reports on the radio or television. I had my television on and heard the horrifying exclamations from the commentators on the Today show. Then the disbelief. Was it an accident, perhaps, a miscalculation. Then, a second plane flew into the second tower. The disbelief turned into uncertainty and concern and then terror.
Those on the ground in NYC faced terror and obstacles they could not have imagined. What followed the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center was a third plane that crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Every year since that fateful day, the United States comes together to remember the fallen. We remember the first responders and those who made difficult decisions.
Patriot Day has evolved since 2001 with several renamings, but Patriot Day has remained to be honored on September 11.
On September 13, 2001, just two days after the attacks, President George W. Bush proclaimed Friday, September 14, 2001, as a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks.
On August 31, 2002, President George W. Bush proclaimed Friday through Sunday, September 6-8, 2022, as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance.
On September 4, 2002, President Bush proclaimed September 11, 2002, as the first Patriot Day.
On September 9, 2016, President Barack Obama renamed September 11 as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance.
In 2017 and 2018, President Donald Trump renamed September 8-10 as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance and proclaimed September 11 as Patriot Day.
We must never forget September 11, 2001.
