The Rev. Dr. Stewart Rawson: Let's commit to caring for others as we did 25 years ago

As I sit to write this column, it is Sept. 11, 2026, the 25th anniversary of 9/11/01. Anyone who is over 30 years old can tell you exactly where they were when they heard about a plane crashing into the first World Trade Center tower.

We have a younger generation that has no memory. My son, who is now 25, was five months old and humbly admits that he has no recollection of that day. It is important that we continue to tell the story of what happened on that dark, ominous day in September, now 25 years ago.

I was sitting at a bank in Irmo, having moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, two days before. The banker we were working with said, "Something just happened in New York City." We went into a break room and turned on a television, and someone said, "A small private plane went into a tower in Manhattan." We would soon learn that it was not a "small private plane" but a commercial 767 with hundreds of innocent people on board. A few minutes later another plane flew into the other World Trade Center tower.

We rushed home and unpacked our television from a box and turned to the news as quickly as we could. As soon as we turned on the TV, we learned that another commercial plane had flown into the Pentagon and quickly a fourth plane crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania. Before the continued shock could settle in, the South Tower, the second tower struck by a plane, collapsed and a dust cloud went into the sky, seemingly a mile high. Within 30 minutes the North Tower would collapse, the news broadcast showing scenes of brave New York City firemen still rushing into these towers; we knew that thousands worked in these two towers.

I watched the news for the next 14 hours, leaving only to go to the church I grew up in as they hosted a prayer vigil, and at that moment in time, I needed to be in a community of faith and I needed to pray, because we all had no idea what was happening. The newscasters made guesses about the source of the attack, but most people felt a certain anxiety for several days that another plane would come out of nowhere.

When the dust settled, which took several months, we would find out that almost 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. Most thought that something like this could never happen on U.S. soil; bounded by two oceans, we felt safe from an attack on the continental United States. How wrong we were.

The stories of bravery from that day were soon told. Three hundred forty-three New York City firefighters were killed that day. Entire engine companies would perish together. We are still to this day, 25 years later, learning of the heroism and bravery of people who gave their lives that dozens of others could live.

And the most amazing thing happened. A stunned nation came together in unity. We were all one. We were Americans! We didn't care if someone was a Democrat or a Republican, a Southerner or a Yankee, all we knew is that we were united and we took care of each other. Closer to home, many here in Sumter remember Hurricane Hugo and how that horrible natural disaster brought us together, allowed our best selves to emerge and inspired us to take care of each other.

As we remember 9/11 and as we continue to deal with that trauma, we need to come together again. I hope it won't take a disaster, human born or natural, but we need to come together. We need to support each other. We need to work together. We need to take care of those who are in desperate need. We need to be aware of what is going on around us. And we need to stop thinking only about ourselves! We are better when are together. And we are better when we are united for a cause. Let's not let the memory of those who perished in that horrible attack be in vain; let's commit to being our best selves and caring for others as we did that day and we know we can do again.

The Rev. Dr. Stewart Rawson is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Downtown Sumter.