Don’t let the 9/11 effect fade.
Pepperdine University gathered to remember the heroes and the indomitable spirit that emerged from the ashes of 9/11. “Let’s keep that fire of patriotism burning bright, honoring the sacrifices of those who stepped up in the face of adversity.
In a world that sometimes feels divided, it’s crucial to remember that we are one nation, united under the same flag, indivisible. Let’s carry the torch forward, ensuring that the lessons of 9/11 continue to shape our future and inspire generations to come.”
Chris Pratt Speech Video Transcription
I remember it so vividly. I stood there alone watching the television. I watched in horror as the second plane hit the tower. I watched the smoke, the devastation. I watched people jumping from buildings, falling from buildings. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d never, I’d never seen anything like that in my life. I stepped out and I fell to my knees in the snow and I cried. and I cried. In that moment, I got to say, I felt, I felt really alone and I wanted to go home. I wanted to come back to America.
I was scared and anxious. My brother my older brother, Cody, was in the Army the time I thought, oh my God, my brother is going to go to war. I felt that the tectonic plates of the earth shifting beneath my feet. I knew. in that moment. that the world I lived in was going to be totally different moving forward.
These annual observances like ours here today ensure that we will not forget what happened on that tragic day. They were important then, they’re even more important, now 22 years later. Understanding this history means a future in which policy makers have the opportunity to take the lessons of the past and apply them going forward as wisdom. That’s what we owe those on the planes and in the buildings who never made it home that day. It’s what we owe the firefighters, the police officers, and paramedics, who responded. It’s what we owe those who were already in uniform, and those who stepped up in service to this great nation in the aftermath of the attacks. And so we owe their families who have carried on without them.
We must remember, we have to teach our children the lessons and 9/11 to rekindle the 9/11 effect and keep it alive. Faith, religion, love of our fellow citizens, and patriotism grew from the ashes of that day. We have a duty to those we lost, to those who answered the call, to those who now deal with the repercussions.
My hope, today, is two-fold that “A” that today the heroes of 9/11, and their families, and their loved ones feel supported and honored. While “B” simultaneously that a fire is lit in the hearts and minds of young people who never felt the 9/11 effect. Perhaps they can have their focus expanded like mine was. Maybe that’s why me, because I am them. If I were 20-year-old, 20 years old today and I might have had my head and TikTok and Instagram, I might be disillusioned, I don’t, I, maybe I wouldn’t know. Maybe, I’d need someone to tap me on the shoulder and tell me that my country needs me. Tap me on the shoulder, ignite my patriotism in a whole new way.
And I say this gently to those who are immersed in their own worlds, who think their country doesn’t need them. And I say this to them with some urgency, it is your torch to carry. Your country needs you.
I feel called to be of service, in this moment, to help other people better understand what’s at stake, and to help comprehend what has and continues to make America the great shining beacon on the hill. Changing the hearts and minds of young people, right now, who have either forgotten, or maybe never knew, just how great our country truly is, that is the work that we all need to do.
We need each other, man, we’re on the same team. Where the United States of America. When we are, one nation under God, we are indivisible. Let us never forget that, lest it be lost.
So the heroes and the victims of 9/11, and their families, we salute you and to the next generation we need you.
