Thursday, October 1, 2026
There are certain things about Sept. 11, 2001, that remain as clear to me today as they were 25 years ago. One of them is the sky. It was a beautiful, crystal-blue September morning, the kind of day we welcome as summer begins to give way to fall. Yet for me, and for so many others, a clear blue September sky has never looked quite the same since.
Even today, when I walk outside on a morning with that same crisp air and brilliant blue sky, I’m immediately brought back to that day when tragedy struck literally out of the blue. The disbelief and the emotions return in a way that reminds me that while 25 years have passed, some moments in our lives never become distant.
As the events of that morning unfolded, it quickly became very personal for our family. My young nephew Peter J. O’Neill Jr., who had just started working at my brother Tom’s firm, Sandler O’Neill, on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center, was among the 2,977 who perished that day. Tom was on the West Coast, so I went to be with my sister-in-law so she wouldn’t have to face those terrifying hours alone.
I can still remember pacing back and forth through the house, watching the television, making calls and waiting for the phone to ring. The frantic calls to family members in Amityville who were trying to get information about Peter only heightened the overwhelming need to do something — to go somewhere, to help somehow — and the terrible realization that there was absolutely nothing we could do. We could only wait and hope.
Parents had another difficult reality to face. My wife and I somehow had to explain to our three daughters, who were 7 and 6 at the time, what was happening, and what it could mean for our family. How do you explain something to a child that you can’t begin to understand yourself? Those are moments that remain with you, no matter how many years pass.
Sept. 11 showed us the very worst of humanity, but in the days and weeks that followed, we also witnessed some of its very best. In the face of unimaginable tragedy, communities came together. Neighbors checked on neighbors, strangers offered comfort and support, and first responders demonstrated a level of courage and selflessness that continues to inspire us.
In Amityville we experienced that same sense of community. We mourned together, comforted families who had suffered incalculable loss, and supported one another in ways both large and small. My family felt that embrace after our loss of Peter, and it’s something I’ve never forgotten. All these years later, I remain grateful for the compassion this village showed then and continues to show whenever one of our neighbors is in need.
A quarter-century has passed, but the memories of Sept. 11 remain with us. We remember Peter, our fellow Amityville resident Louise Lynch, and all those who died that day in New York City, Washington and Shanksville, Pa. We remember the families that have endured an empty place at their tables for 25 years, the first responders we lost that morning, and those who became sick or died in the years that followed.
There is now an entire generation that knows Sept. 11 only as history, which makes our responsibility to remember even more important. We owe it to those who were lost to tell their stories, but we should also remember how Americans responded — with courage, compassion, unity and an extraordinary willingness to help one another. In one of our nation’s darkest moments, we came together as neighbors and as Americans, reminding us of what it truly means to be one nation under God. That sense of unity is something we should remember, cherish and continue to strive for, not only on Sept. 11, but every day.
And perhaps when we look up at a crystal-blue September sky, we can allow it to remind us not only of the terrible events of that morning, but also of the strength, kindness and sense of community that emerged in the days that followed. Twenty-five years later, we remember the loss, we remember the love and support that carried us through it, and we keep our promise: Never forget.
Michael O’Neill is the mayor of Amityville.
