MCGRANE: What Does “Never Forget” Mean 25 Years Later?

By Secretary of State Phil McGrane

Highlights from the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office
September 11, 2026

Never Forget

“Never Forget”

Those words took on an entirely new meaning in the days following September 11th. Twenty-five years later, I think it’s worth asking ourselves what we’re meant to remember.

I happened to be visiting Washington, D.C., when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Like many Americans, I initially assumed it was a terrible accident. Then we watched the second plane hit live on television. When the Pentagon was struck across the river, you could hear the sound of sirens as the tragedy and chaos filled the city.

But even as I was trying to understand what was happening around me in D.C., my thoughts turned to Happiness is Camping and the campers I was working with as a camp counselor, where I was living at the time in northwest New Jersey. The summer camp serves kids with cancer, most of whom came from New York City and the surrounding area. I knew these kids. I knew how hard their lives had already been. Whatever was happening in New York was hitting very close to home.

I will never forget driving back to New Jersey that night. For the 200 miles from Washington, D.C. to Blairstown, NJ, through downtown Philadelphia, we saw less than a dozen other cars in either direction. I remember passing American flags hanging from the overpasses. It was as if the world had stopped. As a nation, we were trying to process what happened, wrestling with fear, sadness, anger and so much more. It was an early sign of what was to come. In the days that followed, politics fell away. We were the United States of America, united, mourning together and helping each other. It seems tragedy brings out our best. I just wish it didn’t take a tragedy to get there.

As a nation, we have never forgotten September 11th. But more than a third of the people alive in the United States today were born after the attacks. They didn’t witness the tragedy unfold, and they never experienced how we came together afterward. At a time when it can feel like our differences define us, especially to those who have never known anything different, it is worth remembering that there is a better way.

That is part of what “Never Forget” means.

It is more than a reminder of a terrible day. It is a reminder to look outside ourselves, look at the world around us and ask: How can I help? Can I do more? What sacrifice can I offer to make things better for someone else?

That is why I think service is more than a virtue. I believe service is one of the ways we can overcome some of the divisions we see today. A mentor of mine, Jim Yost, once told me, “If you look around the world and can see how to make it better, it’s hard not to try.” It’s part of the reason I chose public service.

One of the people who truly taught me something about service was one of the longtime adult volunteers in my cabin at Happiness is Camping. Robert D. McMahon, known to us as “Firefighter Bob,” was one of those people who looked for ways to serve others. He was something of a celebrity among the kids and staff at Happiness Is Camping, volunteering his time with the kids there, along with his close friend Tom. His wife, Julie, was also a pediatric nurse at the camp. They had a young son, and Julie was expecting their second child when he ran into the World Trade Center to save others on September 11th. Firefighter Bob never came home.

I attended his memorial service and, earlier this year, on a visit to New York with my family, I found his name etched into the memorial. I’ve never forgotten him, or the ultimate sacrifice he made.

September 11th is a day of remembrance and service. But remembering shouldn’t be passive. It means carrying forward something of what we saw in the very best of ourselves in those days following a tragedy.

So in memory of Firefighter Bob, and of the nearly 3,000 people we lost, I invite you to do a good turn for someone. Look around you. Find a way to make the world a little better.

That is how we remember.

Phil McGrane

About Phil McGrane

Phil McGrane was elected Idaho’s twenty-eighth Secretary of State and took office on January 2, 2023. McGrane served as elected Clerk of Ada County from 2019-2022. McGrane holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy, a juris doctorate, and a Master of Public Administration. As a fourth-generation Idahoan, Phil has dedicated his career to making elections in the state of Idaho accessible, secure and transparent.

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