By Bill Abbott, President and CEO, Great American Media

Twenty-five years later, I can still see the sky.

September 11, 2001, began as a beautiful Tuesday morning in New York, without a cloud in sight. I was in my office on Sixth Avenue when the first plane struck the World Trade Center. We gathered around the television, trying to understand what we were seeing while looking toward the towers from our windows.

Then we saw the second plane.

In that moment, everything changed. America was under attack.

With bridges, tunnels and trains closed, there was no clear way out of Manhattan. I walked through Times Square, past the Empire State Building and toward Penn Station, places that suddenly felt like potential targets. Phone circuits were overwhelmed. I couldn’t reach my family. The streets were nearly empty except for people crying and the constant sound of sirens.

I did not make it home until that night. The relief of walking through my front door was quickly met by the realization that thousands of other families would never have that reunion.

But amid the horror, America showed its character.

First responders ran toward danger. Strangers cared for strangers. And along Manhattan’s waterfront, civilian mariners answered the call. Tugboats, ferries, fishing boats and private vessels carried hundreds of thousands of people to safety in what became the largest maritime evacuation in American history.

In the days that followed, that same spirit could be felt across the country. Americans displayed flags, gathered in prayer and found countless ways to care for one another.

There were no red states or blue states. No rival cities or competing teams.

We were simply Americans. We were Team USA.

Twenty-five years later, we need to remember that spirit.

Unity does not mean we will always agree. We can disagree, even passionately, without treating one another as enemies. September 11 reminded us that despite our differences, far more unites us than divides us.

Today, we remember those who were taken from us. We honor those who served and sacrificed. We pray for the families who still carry that loss, and we ask God to help us find that spirit of unity again, grounded in gratitude, courage, compassion and faith.

May we never forget what happened that day — or who we were for one another in the days that followed.