09/11/2026
“Always remember the heroes, who did ordinary things at extraordinary times, so others may live” - Chief Joseph Pfeifer FDNY
Today marks the 25th anniversary of what many Americans would consider one of the worst days of our lives. The attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard United Flight 93 shaped a generation and the years that followed.
Moreover, the sacrifice of 343 FDNY firefighters, 1 New York Fire Patrol member, 37 Port Authority Police officers, 23 NYPD officers, 8 EMS personnel, and countless other first responders shaped this generation of the fire service.
But the heroism of September 11th was never limited to those wearing a uniform.
It was found in the ordinary people who stayed behind to help strangers down smoke filled stairwells. In coworkers who refused to leave someone behind. In those who carried the injured, guided people to safety, and went back into danger to help others escape. It was found in the passengers and crew of United Flight 93, who, knowing what had already happened that morning, chose to fight back. It was found in countless individual acts of courage, compassion, and selflessness by people who had no obligation to help anyone but did anyway.
2,977 innocent victims were killed on September 11th. Every one of them left behind families, friends, coworkers, and communities whose lives would never be the same.
The sacrifice did not end when the fires were extinguished or when the recovery effort ended. In the 25 years since, thousands of firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, construction workers, recovery workers, volunteers, and others who responded to Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and Shanksville have suffered from cancers, respiratory diseases, and other illnesses associated with their service and exposure. Many have since died from those illnesses, and many more continue to live with their effects today. They too are part of the lasting sacrifice of September 11th, and they must never be forgotten.
Twenty five years later, we remember the firefighters who climbed the stairs while others were coming down. We remember the police officers, EMS personnel, military members, and other first responders who ran toward danger. We remember the ordinary people who became extraordinary when the moment demanded it. We remember those who stayed behind for someone they barely knew, those who went back when they could have gotten out, and those who put another person’s life before their own.
Chief Pfeifer’s words remind us that heroism that day belonged to more than any one uniform, agency, or profession. It belonged to ordinary people who, in an extraordinary moment, chose to help someone else.
25 years on, Local 1111 will never forget.
