General Brown, thank you for those moving words.
Family members of the fallen, survivors and first responders, our outstanding troops, ladies and gentlemen: thank you all for being here.
I'm honored to join you once more on this day of memory and resolve. And on behalf of the entire Department of Defense, let me offer my deepest condolences to the families, the friends, and the loved ones of the 184 souls who were stolen from us 23 years ago today, here at the Pentagon and on Flight 77.
We have repaired the damage to this building. But we know that we cannot repair the damage to your hearts.
No words can take away your grief.
No amount of time can make sense of the worst terrorist attack in American history.
And I know that for those whose lives were changed forever on 9/11, it can feel as if more and more Americans are returning to normal life on each new September 11th.
But not here. Not at the Pentagon.
Because we remember. The men and women of the Department of Defense remember. And we always will.
Every September, we gather here near 184 memorial benches. But the troops and the personnel of this Department don't need to come to this sacred space to remember 9/11.
We don't just work near a memorial. We work in a memorial.
Every day, we serve in the only surviving building struck by al-Qaeda on 9/11. And every day, we carry a powerful sense of purpose.
And that's why there's a piece of the wreckage from 9/11 on display outside my inner office—for every visitor and every teammate to see.
It is a constant reminder that 9/11 isn't a part of our distant history. It is entwined in the Department's mission. And it's captured in the stories of those who were here.
We continue to honor the beloved teammates whom we lost, the first responders who raced toward the flames, the families who humble us with their resilience, and the survivors who continue to inspire us all.
I'm thinking today of two sisters, Patty Mickley and Kathy Dillaber.
In the fall of 2001, Patty worked in the Defense Intelligence Agency. And Kathy worked for the Department of the Army.
On 9/11, they began their day as they so often did: with a morning talk in the Pentagon courtyard.
And Patty's daughter had graduated from the Pentagon Day Care Center a week earlier. And she had just had her first day of kindergarten. And so Patty told her younger sister all about it.
And they went their separate ways.
That was their last conversation.
Kathy was devastated by Patty's murder. But she channeled her anguish into service by working with the Pentagon Memorial Fund.
And Kathy says, "That was the tie that kept me here."
And we are grateful that Kathy is here with us today.
After 9/11, the staff, the family members, and the children of the Pentagon Day Care Center donated a small plaque in the Pentagon courtyard. It honors Patty and Shelley Marshall, another DIA teammate slain on 9/11.
And her young children were at the Day Care Center that morning. Now Shelley Marshall's daughter Chandler is now a lawyer who has helped to care for Afghan refugees. And her son Drake is now training at Fort Liberty to become a Special Forces Soldier.
They're here today with their father, Donn, who raised them with such love.
And the plaque in the Pentagon courtyard for Patty Mickley and Shelley Marshall reads: "They are not gone who live in the hearts of others."
"They are not gone who live in the hearts of others."
After 9/11, fear turned to resolve. And resolve turned to action and to service.
For proof of that, we can look to the life of Kevin Shaeffer.
On the morning of 9/11, Kevin was a lieutenant on duty in the Pentagon's Navy Command Center. As he watched the news from New York, he was knocked to the ground by the force of a fireball.
Nearly half of Kevin's body was terribly burned. But somehow, he crawled through the rubble toward rescue.
For three months, Kevin fought hard in the burn unit just to survive. And he still carries the scars of 9/11.
You know, Al-Qaeda's attack on the Pentagon ended Kevin's service to the Navy—but not to our country.
Kevin thought hard about what to do next. And he raised his hand to serve once more—this time as a civilian. In 2003, he was selected as one of the professional staff members on the 9/11 Commission.
And at his unremarkable government desk in his unremarkable government cubicle, Kevin chose to put up the pictures of the 9/11 hijackers. And on the Commission, he worked to shed truth and clarity on the evil that those 19 terrorists chose to commit.
In the wake of 9/11, Americans like Kevin and Kathy turned grief into grace and agony into resolve.
The stories like theirs remind us of what we've lost. But they also remind us of who we are.
We are the United States of America.
We do not bend to terror. And in uncertain times, our compass remains our Constitution.
This Department does not just defend our country and our citizens. It also defends America's founding values of democracy, freedom, and liberty under law.
And those beliefs have inspired generations of patriots to step forward and to wear the cloth of our nation. And they still do.
You know, only about six percent of today's troops were in uniform on 9/11. And of our troops about some 21 percent of our current Joint Force was born after 9/11.
And some of our troops enlisted or were commissioned after 9/11, as our country came together in sorrow and determination. And others joined years later, spurred on by an enduring spirit of service.
And we are profoundly grateful to them all.
We thank the military families who make their service possible.
And today of all days, I want to especially thank my fellow veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
And in memory of every American Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, and public servant who lost their lives in the wars that America fought after 9/11, we bow our heads.
[Silence]
Ladies and gentlemen, the United States military remains the greatest fighting force on Earth—not just because of our might but because of our people.
And we will always strive to carry forward the values of the teammates whom we lost here 23 years ago.
Their memory is our mission. And their families are our families too.
You have endured endless sorrow and unimaginable pain with unimaginable strength. We stand with you today, and every day.
And we rededicate ourselves to living up to the example and the goodness of your loved ones.
With a spirit of shared duty. With deep love for our country. And with an unbreakable devotion to our democracy.
"They are not gone who live in the hearts of others."
May the memory of the fallen be a blessing.
May God provide comfort to all who mourn.
May God protect our troops.
And may God continue to bless the United States of America.