‘A Random Group of Americans is an Exceptional Group of People’: George W. Bush Honors Heroes of Flight 93

Speaking at the 20th anniversary memorial ceremony in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, former president George W. Bush on Saturday said that the “random group of Americans” who boarded those flights “in a sense, stood in for us all,” and their courage remains an inspiration twenty years later.

“Twenty years ago, we all found in different ways, in different places, but all at the same moment that our lives would be changed forever,” Bush began after the customary greetings and gratitude.

“The world was loud with carnage and sirens. And then quiet with missing voices that would never be heard again,” he said. “These lives remain precious to our country, and infinitely precious to many of you. Today, we remember your loss, we share your sorrow, and we honor the men and women you have loved so long and so well.”

“For those too young to recall that clear September day, it is hard to describe the mix of feelings we experienced,” he continued. “There was horror at the scale of destruction. And awe at the bravery and kindness that rose to meet it. There was shock at the audacity of evil and gratitude for the heroism and decency that opposed it. In the sacrifice of the first responders, in the mutual aid of strangers, in the solidarity of grief and grace, the actions of an enemy revealed the spirit of a people. And we were proud of our wounded nation.”

Bush spoke of the courage of the Flight 93 passengers, who fought back, the brutality of the moment, the shock that came with it. He talked about lessons that Americans learned from the events, among them that “bravery is more common than we imagined,” something that anyone who recalls that day, and the terrible days after, knows too well.

He talked somewhat abstractly about the perils that faced the United States then and now, making mention of extremist threats not only from abroad or across borders, from home and within them.

Bush said the last twenty years of military action in the wake of 9/11 have “led to debate,” perhaps the most singular understatement of his career.

Seemingly referencing the terrible last weeks of withdrawal from Afghanistan, he said directly to active duty military, veterans, and families that “nothing that has followed, nothing can tarnish your honor or diminish your accomplishments to you and to the honored dead, our country is forever grateful.”

“On America’s day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another, that is the America I know,” he said.

“At a time when religious bigotry might have flowed freely. I saw Americans reject prejudice and embrace people of Muslim faith, that is the nation I know,” he continued.

“At a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as outsiders, I saw Americans reaffirm their welcome to immigrants and refugees. That is the nation I know,” said the former president.

“This is not mere nostalgia. It is the truest version of ourselves. It is what we have been and what we can be again. Twenty years ago, terrorists chose a random group of Americans on a routine flight to be collateral damage in a spectacular act of terror. The 33 passengers and seven crew of Flight 93 could have been any group of citizens selected by fate. In a sense, they stood in for us all.

“The terrorists soon discovered that a random group of Americans is an exceptional group of people. Facing an impossible circumstance, they comforted their loved ones by phone, braced each other for action, and defeated the designs of evil. These Americans were brave, strong and united in ways that shocked the terrorists, but should not surprise any of us. This is the nation we know,” said Bush. “And whenever we need hope and inspiration, we can look to the skies and remember.”

He concluded, as Bush often does, by saying “God Bless.”

Watch the full remarks above, via Fox News.