Twenty Years Later: Remembering and Honoring Those Who Serve

King County, Washington sent this bulletin at 09/11/2021 06:45 AM PDT

Your Update on What's Happening at the King County Council

Councilmember Reagan Dunn at the 9/11 memorial outside the Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety Fire Station 81

Left to right: Firefighters Riedo, Keaveny, and Captain Butler, Councilmember Reagan Dunn, and Maple Valley Mayor Sean P. Kelly at the 9/11 memorial outside the Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety Fire Station 81

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Twenty years ago today, while serving at the Department of Justice in D.C., I was on an American Airlines plane, which was taxiing on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport when the hijacked Flight 11 tragically crashed into the Pentagon just a few hundred yards off the end of the runway. Like many others, I hustled over to the Pentagon and helped hand out towels and bottles of water to those streaming out of the building, many of whom were suffering from injuries and smoke inhalation. In the years that followed, I took up the mantle as a federal anti-terrorism prosecutor to help the federal government in the fight against terror. The September 11, 2001, attacks were a surreal moment for me to experience personally and a defining moment in our country’s history.

As our nation continues to process the withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan, may we unite in our remembrance of the first responders who gave their lives to save others on that tragic day and in honoring the servicemen and women who enlisted to protect their fellow Americans from foreign enemies. We owe these heroes a great debt of gratitude.

God bless our troops and our first responders, and God bless America.

Sincerely,