President Donald Trump, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and former National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice were in attendance at the Pentagon's 9/11 25th Anniversary commemoration on Friday. Watching our president and these other dignitaries on the stage, it dawned on me that 25 years ago, no one could have envisioned this picture. 

General Caine was most closely connected to the action on September 11, 2001. Caine was an Air Force fighter pilot who scrambled on 9/11, and was charged with shooting down any hijacked plane he came into contact with.

Now as Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Caine remembers those who were killed that day 25 years ago, and those who bravely acted to save others. Gen. Caine gave honor to those who carry the torch of remembrance, and those who were activated into service because of 9/11.

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As President George W. Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice was literally in the room when it happened, and worked with then-President Bush to address the tragedy and its aftermath. The first four minutes of this interview Rice sat for in 2002 are quite revelatory, and show how little our government knew or understood at that time.

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Twenty-five years later, Rice is a private citizen, and is content to remain as such. Rice has always been someone who I admire greatly, and what I find most admirable is that she served her country, and then walked back into her civilian life — something she embraces fully and completely. Like the class act that she is, Rice showed up for this 25th anniversary commemoration to give remarks. Weaved within the words of honor and homage, Rice also expressed regret over not seeing the danger sooner, and doing more to assuage the pain and trauma of the 9/11 families brought on by this terrorist attack.

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In 2001, Pete Hegseth was a young college student at Princeton, focused on ROTC, basketball, and conservative politics.

Hegseth wore many hats at Princeton. In the mornings, the defense secretary nominee attended ROTC training and varsity basketball practices. During the day, he attended politics classes on presidential leadership and just societies, obtaining an A.B. in Politics. Lunchtime often found Hegseth and his friends walking to Cap and Gown Club, which he previously described to The Daily Princetonian as “sometimes the only break we would get in the middle of the day.” In the afternoon, Hegseth participated in the faith-based group Athletes in Action, and sometimes attended another ROTC leadership session. At night, Hegseth would oversee The Tory — a commitment that would often keep him in the computer room until the early hours of the morning. 

An often-controversial, politically divisive figure today, many professors and students remember Hegseth as a well-respected, intelligent, and disciplined student.

In 2003, Hegseth graduated Princeton and enlisted in the Army National Guard, serving until 2021. Twenty-five years later, it is Hegseth's insight, warrior ethos, and years of service which now serve to activate the warrior ethos in others. Today, he leads those warriors who step up to serve.

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@SECWAR "Islamist terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 of our fellow Americans that day—Twenty-five years ago. These dastardly and cowardly attacks changed America...

It changed America, not as the cowards had hoped—but you see, their attacks inspired millions of Americans to step forward instead and say, SEND ME.

In the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah said, 'Here I am, Lord. Send me.' And in the days, the weeks that followed, millions of Americans said, HERE WE ARE. SEND US."

In 2001, citizen Donald Trump was a billionaire real estate mogul. At that time, he had no aspirations for higher office. He simply loved New York, loved to build, and as a patriotic citizen, was visibly pissed off over the 9/11 terrorist attack. You can see him barely containing his rage in this NPR interview days after the Monday attack.

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Twenty-five years later, Trump has won the White House, not once, but twice. While his focus back then was seeing a city rebuilt from the ashes, in the last term of his presidency, his focus is seeing America continue to rise from the destruction wrought upon us by four years of the Biden administration.

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@POTUS: No one can ever prepare for a day like 9/11 — but we can always choose to be the kind of nation the world saw in those days after...We can raise our children to know that their country is good, that their fathers are brave, and that our flag is a symbol of justice and freedom. We can be a nation whose heroes are not fanatics for an abstract cause...but the kind who race into buildings and give their lives on a Tuesday morning for strangers they've never met.

From the ordinary to the extraordinary: it is amazing how time, events, and circumstances shape lives and move them along a certain trajectory. Back then and at present, we are fortunate that these four individuals chose and continue to respond to a cause greater than themselves.