In the midst of the heartbreak and wreckage of 9-11, the world

Hear, O children of remembrance, the voice of Dan Coats, who bore witness to one of the darkest days of modern history and yet found within it a light unquenchable. He declared: “In the midst of the heartbreak and wreckage of 9-11, the world also witnessed what is America's greatest strength. Firefighters, nurses, police officers, first responders and local residents worked around the clock to rescue and care for those injured.” These words are not mere tribute—they are testimony, carved in grief and fire, that even in the shadow of despair, the strength of a people is revealed not in might alone, but in service, sacrifice, and compassion.

The heartbreak and wreckage of September 11, 2001, shook not only America but the world entire. Towers fell, smoke rose, and thousands perished in moments of terror. It seemed, for a brief time, as though darkness had triumphed. Yet in that very hour, as Coats reminds us, the true strength of the nation emerged. Firefighters climbed burning stairwells while others fled downward. Nurses tended to the wounded without rest. Police officers and volunteers dug through rubble with bare hands, seeking any sign of life. This was not the strength of weapons or wealth, but the strength of the human spirit, unbroken, unyielding.

History has long taught us that in times of great calamity, the worth of a people is measured not by the size of the blow they endure, but by the depth of their response. Think of London in the Blitz, when bombs rained upon the city night after night. The buildings fell, but the spirit did not. Men and women emerged from the underground shelters not only to rebuild but to help one another, to share bread, to hold onto courage. Just as in New York, strength was revealed in unity, in service, in the refusal to let terror have the final word.

So too in the ancient world, when Pompeii was struck by the fury of Vesuvius, survivors were not remembered for their cries of despair but for their efforts to save neighbors, to carry children, to preserve life even as fire fell from the heavens. In every age, calamity has been both a destroyer and a revealer—stripping away illusions and laying bare the true foundations of a people’s character. Coats, in his words, declares that America’s foundation was not merely steel and stone, but decency, courage, and selfless service.

The lesson, O listeners, is profound. Strength does not lie in avoiding tragedy, for tragedy comes to all. Strength lies in what one does in the midst of tragedy. To serve, to help, to rescue, to care—this is the kind of strength that no enemy can shatter, no fire can consume. It is the power of ordinary people, rising in extraordinary moments, becoming more than themselves. This, Coats teaches, is the secret greatness of a nation: not the grandeur of its monuments, but the quiet heroism of its people.

Let each of you take this wisdom into your own life. You need not wait for catastrophe to prove your strength. Look around you even now: who needs care? Who needs protection? Who needs a hand in the rubble of their own private sorrows? The firefighters and nurses of 9-11 are symbols not only for a nation, but for every individual called to rise in service. To be strong is not only to endure, but to become a light for others when darkness falls.

Practical is this counsel: cultivate habits of compassion daily. Offer kindness before it is asked. Prepare yourself not only with skills but with the readiness of heart to step forward in crisis. Be the one who steadies others when storms strike, who gives hope when hope is scarce. For when your own day of testing comes—as it comes for all—you will discover that true strength lies not in wealth, not in comfort, not even in survival, but in service rendered to others.

Thus remember the words of Dan Coats: “In the midst of the heartbreak and wreckage… the world also witnessed what is America’s greatest strength.” Let them be a flame to guide you, a reminder that from sorrow may rise heroism, and from ruin may spring the noblest proof of what it means to be human. And may you too, when your hour arrives, be counted among those who work “around the clock” for the sake of others.