09/11/2026
Today, marks 25 years since September 11, 2001 — a day that changed our nation forever.
For those of us who remember that morning, there are certain moments that will never leave us. We remember where we were. We remember the confusion, the fear, and the images that seemed impossible to comprehend. Most importantly, we remember the people.
Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken that day. Mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, coworkers, neighbors — people who simply went to work, boarded an airplane, or began what they believed would be an ordinary Tuesday morning.
We also remember those who ran toward the danger.
Police officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers, and countless others answered the call without knowing if they would ever make it home. Some gave their lives that day while trying to save people they had never met. Others survived, only to carry the physical and emotional effects of September 11 for years afterward.
As a police officer, and now as Chief of the Yardley Borough Police Department, that sacrifice carries a meaning that is difficult to put into words. The men and women who responded that morning represented the very best of public service — courage, duty, compassion, and the willingness to place another person’s life before their own.
But there is something else I hope we remember today.
We should remember September 12th, too.
We should remember how Americans treated one another in the days that followed. We checked on our neighbors. We helped strangers. We thanked our first responders. American flags appeared everywhere. For a moment, the things that divided us seemed far less important than the things that brought us together.
That spirit is something I believe still exists right here in Yardley.
One of the things that makes our Borough special is the sense of community we share. We see neighbors helping neighbors, residents supporting our police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, local organizations stepping forward when someone needs assistance, and people coming together during both celebrations and difficult times. We may not always agree on everything, but at the end of the day, this is our community — and we look out for one another.
That togetherness is worth protecting.
So today, I ask our community to do more than simply post the words “Never Forget.”
Take a moment to truly remember.
Remember the victims and their families.
Remember the victims, police officers, firefighters, EMS personnel and other first responders who gave everything they had.
Tell your children what happened that day and why it matters.
Check on a neighbor. Shake the hand of a first responder. Show someone a little kindness.
And today, let us hoist this nation’s flag a little taller than ever.
Let it fly over Yardley for every innocent life that was taken, every hero who answered the call, every family whose world changed forever, and for the country that came together when we needed one another most.
Twenty-five years have passed.
We remember.
We honor.
And we will never forget.
God bless each and everyone of you.
-Chief Golden
