RPV Chairman Pat Mullins issued the following statement:
"It seems like so very long ago that we all woke up on a beautiful, clear September morning and watched our world change forever. No one who saw that day with their own eyes was ever the same.
"And yet the scars, physical for some, mental for many, and emotional for us all, remain fresh and unchanging. I watched as classmates from Columbia vanished in a flash of tragedy, huddled with an assistant and dear friend as we waited to learn if her husband's meeting at the Pentagon had left her a widow."
"The windows rattled at our Annandale church as the day reached its awful climax, as a memorial service for one of our fallen veterans yielded to the day's events - a funeral on hold as we all waited to see how many more funerals this horror would create."
"Time has passed. Broken buildings have been repaired, and memorials now mark what became hallowed ground, a pilgrimage made by many of us more than once. But the pain of that day will never completely heal, even as the memories of those we lost will never truly be absent. We remember those who left for work but never came home, and those who ran toward the sound of danger, hoping to save lives, only to lose their own. We remember a day when uncommon heroism was common, with thankful hearts and tearful eyes."
"Those who would do us harm sought to destroy the fabric that knits us together as a nation -- what Lincoln called the 'mystic chords of memory.' They sought to hurt us, wound us, and make us weaker. And while they did hurt us, they failed utterly. They made us stronger. For the first time in many of our lives, all differences were set aside. We were neighbors, even if we'd never met before. "
"When the call went out for help, we responded as one. In attempting to destroy us, they reminded us of who we are. They showed us that underneath all of our differences, we are one people, who were and remain ready to answer the calls of our country, our Commonwealth, and our neighbors."
"We are all Americans. And we will always remember. "
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