My boss shared this with the Team this morning. I thought I'd share this important message, with the SBO family, that has such eloquence, bringing forth the emotional balance of sadness and pride that we have endured as a nation.
Today marks 25 years since September 11, 2001.
For many of us, September 11th is not simply a date in history. We remember where we were. We remember the first reports, the confusion, the disbelief, and then the terrible realization that our country was under attack. We remember watching the towers fall, seeing the smoke rise from the Pentagon, and learning about the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who fought back rather than allow their aircraft to become another weapon.
And we remember the people.
Nearly 3,000 sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues never came home that day. First responders ran toward buildings that everyone else was trying to escape. Firefighters, police officers, emergency medical personnel, military personnel, and ordinary citizens placed themselves in harm’s way to help others. Many never had the opportunity to say goodbye to the people they loved.
We also remember that September 11th did not end when the towers fell. It began a generation of service and sacrifice. In the years that followed, countless Americans volunteered, deployed, served long hours, missed birthdays and holidays, endured hardships that many of us will never fully understand, and carried the weight of defending a nation that had been attacked on its own soil. Some came home carrying wounds that were visible. Others carried wounds that were not.
And some never came home at all.
It is important, especially for those of us who work in national defense, that we remember not only the tragedy of that day, but the responsibility that followed it.
Our work can sometimes feel distant from the people it ultimately serves. We work through requirements, engineering challenges, schedules, budgets, tests, briefings, meetings, spreadsheets, milestones, and countless decisions that may seem routine in isolation. But behind all of it is something very real: the security of our nation and the people who depend upon us to get our job done.
That is particularly meaningful on Team xxx.
We are entrusted with maintaining and advancing a capability that contributes to our nation’s ability to deter conflict and, if necessary, respond to threats against our country and our allies. That is a tremendous responsibility. It is also a responsibility that belongs to every one of us—not just the people whose names appear at the top of an organization chart.
Every engineer who solves a difficult problem.
Every acquisition professional who finds a way through an obstacle.
Every logistician who makes sure the Fleet has what they need.
Every financial analyst who catches something others might have missed.
Every person who asks the hard question, challenges an assumption, fixes a mistake, or refuses to accept “good enough” when the mission demands better.
It all matters.
We may never know the name of the person whose life is ultimately protected because of something we did here. We may never see the consequence of a decision we made correctly or a problem we solved before it became a crisis. That is the nature of much of our work. But the absence of a headline does not mean the absence of impact.
In that sense, there is a powerful lesson in remembering September 11th.
The people who ran into the towers were not thinking about history. They were doing the job in front of them. The passengers of Flight 93 were not thinking about how they would be remembered. They were simply trying to protect others. The service members who deployed in the years afterward were answering a call to duty.
They did what was required of them when their moment came.
Our moment is different. Our responsibilities are different. But the obligation to serve is the same.
Twenty-five years can make a painful memory feel distant, particularly to those who were children—or not yet born—when September 11th happened. That makes it even more important that we continue to tell the story. We owe it to those who were lost. We owe it to their families. And we owe it to the generations who have grown up in the years since.
We should never allow September 11th to become merely a paragraph in a history book.
So today, I ask each of you to take a moment to remember—not just the buildings and the images that became symbols of that day, but the individual human beings behind them. Think about the families who woke up that morning expecting an ordinary day. Think about the first responders who left home and never returned. Think about the service members who subsequently raised their hands and volunteered to carry the fight forward. And think about the quiet courage of the people who simply did what needed to be done.
Then, when we return to our work, let us carry that memory with us.
Let it remind us why our standards matter.
Why our professionalism matters.
Why our integrity matters.
Why we owe one another our very best effort.
And why the mission is bigger than any one of us.
We cannot change what happened on September 11, 2001. We cannot bring back the people we lost. But we can choose what we do with the responsibility their memory leaves with us.
We can serve with purpose.
We can lead with courage.
We can look out for one another.
And we can take pride in doing difficult work, and doing it well, in service to something larger than ourselves.
Twenty-five years later, we remember.
We remember the lives lost.
We remember the courage shown.
We remember the sacrifices made.
We remember the families who still carry that loss.
And we remember why our commitment to the defense of this nation matters.
May we never forget.
And may we honor their memory not only with words, but with the way we serve.
We remember. We honor. We serve.
Today marks 25 years since September 11, 2001.
For many of us, September 11th is not simply a date in history. We remember where we were. We remember the first reports, the confusion, the disbelief, and then the terrible realization that our country was under attack. We remember watching the towers fall, seeing the smoke rise from the Pentagon, and learning about the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who fought back rather than allow their aircraft to become another weapon.
And we remember the people.
Nearly 3,000 sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues never came home that day. First responders ran toward buildings that everyone else was trying to escape. Firefighters, police officers, emergency medical personnel, military personnel, and ordinary citizens placed themselves in harm’s way to help others. Many never had the opportunity to say goodbye to the people they loved.
We also remember that September 11th did not end when the towers fell. It began a generation of service and sacrifice. In the years that followed, countless Americans volunteered, deployed, served long hours, missed birthdays and holidays, endured hardships that many of us will never fully understand, and carried the weight of defending a nation that had been attacked on its own soil. Some came home carrying wounds that were visible. Others carried wounds that were not.
And some never came home at all.
It is important, especially for those of us who work in national defense, that we remember not only the tragedy of that day, but the responsibility that followed it.
Our work can sometimes feel distant from the people it ultimately serves. We work through requirements, engineering challenges, schedules, budgets, tests, briefings, meetings, spreadsheets, milestones, and countless decisions that may seem routine in isolation. But behind all of it is something very real: the security of our nation and the people who depend upon us to get our job done.
That is particularly meaningful on Team xxx.
We are entrusted with maintaining and advancing a capability that contributes to our nation’s ability to deter conflict and, if necessary, respond to threats against our country and our allies. That is a tremendous responsibility. It is also a responsibility that belongs to every one of us—not just the people whose names appear at the top of an organization chart.
Every engineer who solves a difficult problem.
Every acquisition professional who finds a way through an obstacle.
Every logistician who makes sure the Fleet has what they need.
Every financial analyst who catches something others might have missed.
Every person who asks the hard question, challenges an assumption, fixes a mistake, or refuses to accept “good enough” when the mission demands better.
It all matters.
We may never know the name of the person whose life is ultimately protected because of something we did here. We may never see the consequence of a decision we made correctly or a problem we solved before it became a crisis. That is the nature of much of our work. But the absence of a headline does not mean the absence of impact.
In that sense, there is a powerful lesson in remembering September 11th.
The people who ran into the towers were not thinking about history. They were doing the job in front of them. The passengers of Flight 93 were not thinking about how they would be remembered. They were simply trying to protect others. The service members who deployed in the years afterward were answering a call to duty.
They did what was required of them when their moment came.
Our moment is different. Our responsibilities are different. But the obligation to serve is the same.
Twenty-five years can make a painful memory feel distant, particularly to those who were children—or not yet born—when September 11th happened. That makes it even more important that we continue to tell the story. We owe it to those who were lost. We owe it to their families. And we owe it to the generations who have grown up in the years since.
We should never allow September 11th to become merely a paragraph in a history book.
So today, I ask each of you to take a moment to remember—not just the buildings and the images that became symbols of that day, but the individual human beings behind them. Think about the families who woke up that morning expecting an ordinary day. Think about the first responders who left home and never returned. Think about the service members who subsequently raised their hands and volunteered to carry the fight forward. And think about the quiet courage of the people who simply did what needed to be done.
Then, when we return to our work, let us carry that memory with us.
Let it remind us why our standards matter.
Why our professionalism matters.
Why our integrity matters.
Why we owe one another our very best effort.
And why the mission is bigger than any one of us.
We cannot change what happened on September 11, 2001. We cannot bring back the people we lost. But we can choose what we do with the responsibility their memory leaves with us.
We can serve with purpose.
We can lead with courage.
We can look out for one another.
And we can take pride in doing difficult work, and doing it well, in service to something larger than ourselves.
Twenty-five years later, we remember.
We remember the lives lost.
We remember the courage shown.
We remember the sacrifices made.
We remember the families who still carry that loss.
And we remember why our commitment to the defense of this nation matters.
May we never forget.
And may we honor their memory not only with words, but with the way we serve.
We remember. We honor. We serve.
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