On 25th Anniversary of September 11 Terrorist Attacks, Shaheen Honors Those Who Lost Their Lives, Recognizes Bravery of First Responders at Dover Memorial Ceremony

(Dover, NH) – On the 25 th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) attended and delivered remarks at the City of Dover’s 25 th Anniversary Remembrance of 9/11 Ceremony and Memorial Dedication, where she was joined by Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and community leaders to unveil a new memorial dedicated to the tragic events of September 11 and the Dover residents who lost their lives on that day. In her remarks, Senator Shaheen honored the nearly 3,000 Americans who lost their lives in the terror attacks of September 11, including ten Granite Staters, recognized the bravery of the nation’s first responders who immediately raced into action to save lives and defend our shores and highlighted how on America’s darkest day, citizens across the country united in the face of unspeakable tragedy. Photos from the ceremony can be found HERE. Key Quotes from Senator Shaheen “We need to tell the next generation how we came together as a community and as a nation, and make sure that 25 years from now, not only Dover, but the rest of the nation still remembers, and the world remembers, and we are a stronger nation because of it.” “I hope, in addition to remembering the events of that day and those we lost, it will also be an opportunity to reflect on the lessons from 9/11. They weren't just about safety and security; they were about Americans coming together. Coming together regardless of religion, of ethnic background, of where we were from, and coming together, and respecting everyone's opinion, and recognizing that if we are together, we are stronger.” “We weren't sure if there were more attacks coming, where they were going to hit, and we decided that the most important thing we could do was to keep state operations open. We were the only state in New England who kept all of our state operations open, and we did that because we said we are not going to be shut down by any terrorists who want to change the way we do business in the United States.” Full Remarks as Delivered I am so honored to be able to join all of you on this 25th anniversary of the horrific attacks of 9/11, and it's so wonderful to see all of the people who have turned out. What a tribute to the memory of those we lost. And thank you to all of the firefighters, to the law enforcement, all the first responders who are here, t o the New Hampshire Pipe and Drum and Sierra, who did such a great job on the national anthem. We are honored by your presence this morning. And Chief Haas, I don't know whose idea it was to unveil the memorial first, but that was a great idea, because this way we can look at that, we can reflect as we're listening to people comment. And as we've heard, I know everyone here who was alive remembers where you were on 9/11 when you got the news. It was a beautiful day, just like this. Blue sky, nice breeze in the Northeast. I was actually in Washington, D.C. with a delegation from New Hampshire at an early childhood conference, and we were on a call with all of the agency heads from New Hampshire, because the day before the mills in Berlin had gone bankrupt, putting thousands of people out of work. And so we were on the call trying to figure out what we could do to help, to respond. And the adjutant general, General Blair, interrupted us, and he said, "We've just gotten news that a plane went into one of the towers at the Trade Center, and we think it's a terrorist attack." So we weren't sure what was happening. We continued our call. I walked out of the building, and you could see the smoke coming out of the Pentagon because the plane had already hit the Pentagon at that point. And so I called back to New Hampshire because, of course, all the planes were grounded. I couldn't get home to talk about what we were going to do to respond, how we were going to keep people safe. Because, again, we didn't know what kind of attack this was. We weren't sure if there were more attacks coming, where they were going to hit, and we decided that the most important thing we could do was to keep state operations open. We were the only state in New England who kept all of our state operations open, and we did that because we said we are not going to be shut down by any terrorists who want to change the way we do business in the United States. On that awful day, we lost ten citizens of New Hampshire, four of them from Dover. Kathleen and Michael Shearer, who were on United Flight 175 that left Boston, heading to Los Angeles. Douglas Stone, who was on American Flight 11, also heading to Los Angeles, and David Scott Suarez, who was working at the World Trade Center. Four of the ten that we lost, and we lost many more with connections to New Hampshire, but those four were from Dover. So this memorial represents not just a tribute to those four Dover citizens, to all of the people that we lost that day, but it's also a tribute to everyone who responded on 9/11, to all of the first responders who, as we've seen, went into danger when everyone else was fleeing. It is a tribute to all of those people who we want the entire generation that's grown up with no memory of 9/11 to be able to reflect upon. The kids in Dover today who see this only as a history lesson, who don't remember the personal impact that it made on us. And that's why this kind of a memorial matters, because long after those of us are gone, this memorial will still be here. And Dave Hanna, it's so appropriate that you, as a firefighter, did the beautiful design of this memorial. But I hope, in addition to remembering the events of that day and those we lost, it will also be an opportunity to reflect on the lessons from 9/11. They weren't just about safety and security; they were about Americans coming together, coming together regardless of religion, of ethnic background, of where we were from, and coming together, and respecting everyone's opinion, and recognizing that if we are together, we are stronger. And that was the message we wanted to send to the rest of the world. We need to tell the next generation how we came together as a community and as a nation, and make sure that 25 years from now, not only Dover, but the rest of the nation still remembers, and the world remembers, and we are a stronger nation because of it. Thank you all very much. ###