09/11/2026
🇺🇸 WE REMEMBER — SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
Twenty-five years ago, our nation experienced a day that forever changed America.
Today, we remember the nearly 3,000 people whose lives were taken on September 11, 2001. We honor the first responders who ran toward danger, the families who endured unimaginable loss, and the countless Americans who stepped forward to help in the days, weeks and months that followed.
Here in South Dakota, we can also remember the remarkable ways people from our state answered that call.
South Dakotans donated millions of dollars to relief organizations and volunteered thousands of hours to help survivors and the families of victims.
Employees of Luverne Fire Apparatus in Brandon volunteered approximately 2,000 hours of their own time to build a fire truck that was donated to New York City.
American Red Cross volunteers from Rapid City traveled to assist with recovery efforts at the Pentagon.
Police officers specializing in stress management from Mitchell and Yankton went to New York to support police officers dealing with the emotional aftermath of the attacks.
Ten law enforcement officers from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation traveled to New York to assist with security.
Rapid City therapists Bonnie Riggenbach and Bob Holmes traveled to New York to help those affected by the attacks, while personnel from the University of South Dakota's Disaster Mental Health Institute also took part in recovery efforts.
Across rural South Dakota, farmers and ranchers sold cattle and grain and donated the proceeds. Don and Adeline Hight of Murdo sold 100 calves and donated approximately $40,000 to help victims of the attacks.
These are only some of the stories of South Dakotans who stepped forward.
They were hundreds and thousands of miles from Ground Zero, but distance didn't matter.
🇺🇸 When America needed help, South Dakota answered.
Twenty-five years later, we remember the lives that were taken. We remember the heroes. We remember the families. And we remember the extraordinary compassion and unity Americans showed one another in the aftermath.
May we never forget September 11, 2001—and may we never forget what we are capable of when we stand together.
Never Forget. 9.11.01 🇺🇸
Source: Congressional Record, U.S. Senate, September 11, 2002 — remarks of South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle documenting South Dakotans' response following the September 11 attacks.
