There are certain dates that don’t need much explanation.
September 11 is one of them.
Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, 2001, our country experienced a tragedy that changed America forever. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day in New York City, at the Pentagon, and aboard Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. I remember exactly where I was when I found out and it is permanently etched in my mind.
Among those victims were hundreds of first responders who did something that deserves to be remembered.
They ran toward the danger.
As thousands of people desperately tried to escape the World Trade Center, firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and other emergency personnel headed in the opposite direction. They climbed stairwells carrying heavy equipment. They helped injured and frightened people get out. Many continued upward, knowing the situation was getting worse by the minute.
At the World Trade Center, 421 emergency responders lost their lives.
That included 343 members of the New York City Fire Department, 23 members of the New York City Police Department, and 37 officers from the Port Authority Police Department, along with paramedics and other emergency responders.
Numbers help us understand the magnitude of what happened, but they don’t tell the entire story.
Every one of those numbers represents a person.
They were husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and coworkers. They had families expecting them to come home at the end of their shift.
They went anyway.
A Personal Thank You
I’ve always had tremendous respect for first responders. My late son Scott was a Michigan State Trooper and he was one of those who would run toward the danger. Being a first responder requires something most of us hope we will never have to demonstrate: the willingness to place yourself in danger to protect someone you may not even know.
September 11 showed us that commitment in a way few events ever have. I am grateful for their service, their courage, and their sacrifice.
I also think it’s important that when we say “Never Forget,” those words don’t simply become something we post once a year.
We should remember the people. We should remember what they did. And we should remember the families who have lived with their absence every day for the past 25 years.
The sacrifice didn’t end on September 11, either. Thousands of people participated in the rescue, recovery, and cleanup operations that followed. Many first responders later developed cancers, respiratory diseases, and other serious illnesses associated with their exposure at Ground Zero.
For some families, September 11 has continued taking loved ones years and even decades later.
From Ground Zero to Afghanistan
There is also a bourbon connection to this story, although it’s much bigger than bourbon.
I’ve previously talked about Horse Soldier Bourbon, and its name has a remarkable connection to what happened after September 11.
In the weeks following the attacks, Operational Detachment Alpha 595, one of the best-known Horse Soldier teams, entered Afghanistan on October 19, 2001.
These Green Berets were working with Afghan forces fighting the Taliban. The terrain presented an unusual problem. Modern American soldiers suddenly found themselves operating in an environment where one of the most effective forms of transportation wasn’t a Humvee or armored vehicle.
It was a horse.
Some of these Special Forces soldiers fought on horseback alongside their Afghan allies and became known as the “Horse Soldiers.”
Their story eventually inspired books, documentaries, the movie 12 Strong, and the America’s Response Monument overlooking the World Trade Center site.
Several veterans associated with those Special Forces teams later became involved in creating Horse Soldier Bourbon.
Even the bottle carries a remarkable connection to September 11. Horse Soldier has said its bottles were pressed using molds forged with steel recovered from the World Trade Center.
That makes the story behind the bottle very different from the typical bourbon origin story.
More Than Whiskey
Normally when I write about bourbon, we’re talking about mash bills, proof, age statements, barrels, tasting notes, and whether a bottle is worth its price.
This isn’t one of those times.
Horse Soldier Bourbon gives me an opportunity to connect two groups of Americans who answered a call to service.
On September 11, first responders ran into burning buildings while others were trying to escape.
In the days and weeks that followed, members of our military prepared to go halfway around the world and confront the people responsible for attacking our country.
Different uniforms. Different missions.
The same willingness to serve.
I’ve previously recorded a video telling more of the Horse Soldier Bourbon story and reviewing the whiskey. I’ll include a link to that video below for anyone who would like to learn more.Watch the video HERE.
But today, the whiskey isn’t the most important part of the story.
Today is about remembering.
To the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, military personnel, rescue workers, and countless others who answered the call on September 11 and in the difficult days that followed: thank you.
And to the families of those who never came home, we remember their sacrifice.
Twenty-five years later, we still remember.
We will never forget.
