We remember the people who went to work that morning and never came home. We remember the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and volunteers who ran toward danger while others were trying to escape it. We remember the passengers of Flight 93, who understood the stakes and chose courage. Their actions reminded the world that the American spirit does not surrender easily.

We also honor the men and women who answered the call after 9/11. Many served far from home, in dangerous places, with one purpose in mind: to prevent those who use terror as a weapon from bringing that kind of destruction to our shores again. Some came home carrying visible or invisible wounds. Some did not come home at all. Their service and sacrifice deserve more than a passing mention once a year.

The threat we faced on September 11 came from radical Islamist terrorists who twisted religion into a justification for murder, oppression, and tyranny. That violent ideology is fundamentally incompatible with the freedom, equality before the law, religious liberty, and democratic self-government that define America. It must be confronted honestly and defeated wherever it takes root.

At the same time, we must be precise about what we are confronting. The enemy is violent extremism and those who support, finance, recruit for, or excuse it, not peaceful Americans who practice Islam and live under the same Constitution we all swore to defend. Our strength is not abandoning our principles in fear. Our strength is holding to them while refusing to be blind to real threats.

Evil does not always announce itself at the border. It can seek influence through propaganda, intimidation, corruption, recruitment, and attempts to exploit the openness of a free society. That is why vigilance matters. Government leaders, law enforcement, communities, and citizens all have a responsibility to protect this country, defend the Constitution, and ensure that no extremist ideology gains a foothold in the institutions meant to serve the American people.

We owe the fallen more than silence. We owe them remembrance. We owe the wounded and the families who still grieve our respect. We owe those who fought after 9/11 our gratitude. And we owe the next generation the truth: freedom is precious, evil is real, and liberty survives only when good people have the courage to defend it.

Never forget the lives lost on September 11, 2001.
Never forget those who answered the call.
Never stop defending the country they loved.