What does this cityscape mean to you?

Many years ago, as a young man, I stood and looked out from the 107th floor inside Tower 2 of the World Trade Center. From the sunlight-filled glass walls, I saw an incredible view of New York City and of America.

It was only a few years later that it happened. No words could describe the devastation and pain felt by the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

Those towers are no longer there and the America I looked upon has changed.

Even now, my feelings are so conflicted. At the time I was filled with heartbreak, sorrow, anger… and then a steely resolve. It was the year I tested for and joined the SWAT team at a time when Americans were fearfully expecting further attacks on the homeland. In the years to come, I trained alongside SWAT operators, Special Forces Soldiers, Navy Seals, Marines, Airmen and other warfighters—some of whom were going to war, and others returning—weary, wiser and willing to share what they had learned. 

Learning from one another during the Global War on Terror, we refined our abilities in hostage rescue, counterterrorism, improvised explosive devices and our response to weapons of mass destruction. As law enforcement officers serving the community, we normalized the hyper-vigilance required to constantly look for threats, all while maintaining empathy, sound judgment, and the fair enforcement of justice for immigrants and refugees escaping war-torn areas in the Middle East. 

There were so many emotional ups and downs as we saw our nation's soldiers, Marines, warfighters—servicemen and women—carry the burdens of a war which our country understandably grew weary of, and a war our politicians did not have the wisdom or stomach to win.

Twenty-three years ago, we saw terrorism so vividly as the evil that it was. 

And today? Our nation's collective memories are clouded by the traumas of war and divided by a sliding scale of justice that no longer relies upon existential providence or objective truth. Instead, we villainize law and order. We see a new generation that legitimizes terrorism and even celebrates it in some of our largest cities and within our most elite college campuses.

What hasn’t changed is the admiration and respect I have for those who nobly and self-sacrificially ran toward the destruction raised against our country. Even still, this many years later, I am in awe of the bravery shown by the rescuers, the protectors, the healers, the rebuilders and the warriors who responded with sacrificial compassion.

It is for them, and with hope for the future, that I will never forget September 11, 2001.