Congressman Kaialiʻi Kahele (HI-02) released the following statement in remembrance of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001:
“Today, 20 years after the harrowing attacks on our nation, we remember the 2,977 American lives lost, the heroism of our courageous first responders who ran toward danger and the bravery of ordinary people who helped their fellow Americans. Let us also remember the families who lost their loved ones, and the men and women who were deployed to war following that attack. Our nation’s resilience is strengthened on this day as we come together to remember. We will never forget.”
Congressman Kahele recalls that fateful day, twenty years ago:
“On the morning of September 11, 2001, I remember surrounding the television at the 50th Flying Training Squadron ops desk with my pilot classmates, watching in shock and horror, live footage of the terrorist attacks on our country. At the time, I was stationed at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi attending Air Force Pilot Training and had just received my commission seven months prior as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Hawaiʻi Air National Guard. That day set the narrative for the rest of my now twenty-year military career, and led to my first combat deployment to Afghanistan in 2005 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism.”