SEN McCORMICK: The heroic passengers of Flight 93 showed America how to stand united

Twenty-five years ago, 40 men and women showed uncommon courage on Flight 93. Today, we honor their sacrifice and their example on a field of honor forever in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

On the morning of 9/11, I was in a skyscraper in Pittsburgh as the attacks unfolded. We knew another plane had been hijacked somewhere over Pennsylvania, but we did not know where it was or where it was headed. Then came the news from Shanksville — and, later, the story of what its passengers and crew had done.

Less than an hour after United Flight 93 left Newark, four al Qaeda terrorists seized the plane and forced the passengers and crew to the rear of the aircraft.

Flight 93 was different from the other hijacked planes that morning because a ground delay gave its passengers time to learn of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. When the plane turned toward Washington, they knew that Flight 93 had become another weapon of terror.

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Through calls to loved ones and people on the ground, they learned what had happened in New York and at the Pentagon. They understood that the hijackers did not intend for them to survive and that countless more innocent lives were at stake.

C.S. Lewis wrote that courage is "the form of every virtue at the testing point." For the ordinary Americans aboard Flight 93, that testing point came without warning — and within minutes they responded in an extraordinary, distinctly American way.

They took a vote and made a plan. At 9:57 a.m., Todd Beamer, an account manager for Oracle, uttered the now-famous words, "Let’s roll," and they charged the cockpit and the knife-wielding jihadis. For six minutes, they fought to retake the plane. At 10:03, the plane flipped upside down and plowed into a farmer’s field near Shanksville. Their sacrifice denied the terrorists their target.

Twenty-five years later, their example offers lessons not only about who we were then, but also who we must continue to be.

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We must remain vigilant in the face of evil. At home, that means rejecting the poisonous idea, voiced by Hasan Piker, that America "deserved 9/11." Abroad, it means taking seriously enemies who chant "Death to America" and mean it. We Americans do not go looking for a fight; but when called upon, we show the strength and courage that should make our enemies think twice. Even now, the men and women of the United States military are reminding the world that threats against America have consequences.

Vigilance must be backed by strength. When the time to act arrives, the time to prepare has passed. The passengers and crew of Flight 93 had only minutes and whatever strength they could summon. Today, advances in AI, robotics and other technologies are transforming both the threats we face and the tools we have to defeat them. America needs the strongest military in the world, equipped with the best technology and ready to give those who serve every advantage when called to fight.

Yet because evil is real, we must not blur the distinction between genuine evil and ordinary political disagreement. In those decisive minutes aboard Flight 93, no one asked who was a Republican or Democrat, where anyone came from or how anyone worshiped. They acted together as Americans. That same sense of common purpose swept the country after September 11 as strangers helped strangers, communities grieved together and a generation raised its hand to serve.

Today, that unity can seem distant. Our politics too often turns disagreement into enmity and fellow Americans into adversaries. September 11 reminds us that before we are Republicans, Independents or Democrats, we are Americans.

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From Gettysburg to Normandy to Shanksville, ordinary Americans have shown the spirit, courage and character that define America at its best. President George W. Bush said the terrorists discovered that "a random group of Americans is an exceptional group of people." The passengers and crew were students and retirees, an ironworker and an attorney, business travelers and flight attendants — ordinary people who answered an extraordinary call.

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But we cannot take that spirit for granted. Only 39% of Americans say they are "extremely proud" to be American, down from 70% in 2003, and pride is even lower among younger Americans. At the same time, too many boys and young men are struggling to find purpose and a path into adulthood. Character must be taught and cultivated. We must tell these stories, call the next generation to service, and teach them that courage means self-command, responsibility and putting others before themselves.

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That is why I encourage every American to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, where I will join others in remembrance today. Bring your children and grandchildren. Stand at the crash site and listen to the calls made in the flight’s final minutes — some to say goodbye, others to explain what was happening and what they intended to do about it. You cannot hear their voices and leave unchanged.

Most of us will never face such an extraordinary test. But all of us are called, in ways large and small, to serve our country and leave it better for those who come after us.

At their testing point, the heroes of Flight 93 showed us what America still requires of you, me and each of us: the clarity to recognize evil, the strength to confront it, the unity to stand together and the courage to put country before self.