Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks' Remarks for the Pentagon 9/11 Employee Observance Ceremony (As Delivered)

View Online Deputy Secretary of Defense Speech Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks' Remarks for the Pentagon 9/11 Employee Observance Ceremony (As Delivered) Sept. 10, 2024 Good morning, everyone. I'm really reminded with how beautiful this day is really how beautiful a day we had on 9/11. How a day that began with such wonderful weather and beautiful promise was spoiled. So let me just first thank the other speakers: Pastor , Admiral Grady, and Ms. Walsh for your really powerful remarks. And to all of our distinguished guests and all of you, thank you for being here to observe the anniversary of this tragedy. I'm honored to join you in fulfilling our enduring promise to never forget what happened on this day and in this place, and to honor those who we have lost. For many of us, it's hard to believe it's been 23 years since the tragic events that took place here on September 11th, 2001. Many of us here today have personal memories of what happened that day. Our own firsthand accounts of what transpired- and those memories remain vivid. Some of you, like me, like several of our speakers, were working in the Pentagon. Some of you might have witnessed with shock as events unfolded on television in your home, in your office, in your school. If you're of a certain age, you can likely recall vividly where you were, what you were doing, and the mixture of emotions you might have felt — fear, outrage, surprise, worry, and sympathy and sadness for those who perished here, and in New York, and in Pennsylvania. And yet, on one of the darkest days in American history, a sense of duty arose instinctively and immediately throughout the nation, including here in the Pentagon. There are many heroic stories borne from that sense of duty. Of the first responders who rushed into the building despite the risk. Of those who waded through fire and smoke to direct a teammate to safety. And of those who used whatever resources, training, or experience they had to aid and assist the incapacitated, injured, struggling, and scared. On that Tuesday, Army Captain Lincoln Leibner was not to report for duty until evening. But after viewing the attacks on the World Trade Center, he put on his uniform and headed into the office at the Pentagon. He was in South Parking when he saw Flight 77 about to make impact 100 yards from his very location. Risking his own safety, he raced through a door in Corridor 5 that had been blown off its hinges. Within minutes, he'd helped rescue a woman who'd been badly burned, two others trapped in debris, and still others who he'd managed to lower to safety through a broken window. After leaving by ambulance to receive medical treatment for his own injuries, Captain Leibner later returned for his shift. Captain Leibner's story exemplifies that of many Pentagon employees who transformed that day into rescuers and responders — survivors whose selflessness helped to save the lives of countless others. Today, taking care of our people is a top Department priority. But it's also a reflection of the ethos that has long existed among this workforce. To succeed in achieving our national security mission requires a culture of mutual trust and teamwork — a culture that is built into the very fabric of who we are as an institution. Put simply: taking care of each other is what we do. As time passes and 9/11 recedes in our collective consciousness, it is increasingly important for us to share these accounts of courage, camaraderie, and sacrifice. Fewer Americans hold those memories first-hand. Many perhaps were too young to remember. Many not even born yet. The majority or our newly-commissioned military officers weren't even born yet, for example. Yet the events of 9/11 transformed our nation and re-shaped our national security mission. So it's critical that those of us who have stories to share continue to do so. What sticks with me more than two decades later is the collective resolve and resilience this nation can and did show in the face of horrific violence, and the courage and commitment of those who answered the call to service in its wake. Despite the devastation wrought here on September 11th, on September 12th, as Ms. Walsh said, the people of this Department returned to work and only dug into our mission harder. And in the year that followed 9/11, more than a quarter of a million Americans with no prior military experience enlisted in the military, and with countless others made a commitment to public service. Many of those Americans were motivated by a desire to contribute directly to our national defense. Many others were moved to change their career path and be part of something greater than themselves. Across generations, these are driving factors for why so many young people have chosen to serve in the military. There are few clearer demonstrations of a commitment to the greater good than a life in public service, and especially military service. This past year in particular, we've seen recruitment numbers returning and retention remaining strong, and I know that each service remains laser-focused on their recruitment and retention missions. And to be clear, we all have a role to play in modeling the best values of public service and military service. It is our collective duty to amplify for others that same call to service that you might've felt on this day 23 years ago — that fighting spirit to protect the nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That's part of what it means to never forget — to never forget what galvanized our service, and the ways that it changed us as an institution. And to the younger generations out there — never doubt your ability to make a difference in ensuring and strengthening our national security in this moment in history. Your skills and your savvy are needed more than ever to help safeguard our democratic ideals and national interests and to protect our homeland from acute and urgent threats. So let this anniversary be a reminder of our continued responsibility to this nation — to carry forward to each generation the value of public service... to share this important history... to tell our stories... and to honor in name and in deed all those we lost. Thank you.

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