Governor Spanberger Honors 9/11 Victims & First Responders, Reflects on 25th Anniversary of Attacks

RICHMOND, VA - Governor Abigail Spanberger and Virginia Secretary of Public Safety & Homeland Security Stanley Meador today are remembering the nearly 3,000 innocent people who were killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 - honoring the families who continue to carry the burden of that loss and recognizing the service of the first responders who rushed toward danger, so many of whom never made it home.

At the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Secretary Meador described the immediate aftermath of the attack - and joined Governor Spanberger in reflecting on the lasting impact on the Virginians who were there that day. Secretary Meador - then serving as a Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Special Agent in Northern Virginia - responded to the Pentagon moments after American Airlines Flight 77 was flown into its west facade.

In the days that followed, Secretary Meador worked alongside fellow first responders at the Pentagon, collecting debris and working in the rubble amid toxic smoke, jet fuel, and other hazardous substances associated with a range of short- and long-term health conditions, including cancer. Twelve years later, Secretary Meador was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. After treatment, his cancer later progressed to Stage 4. He was subsequently accepted into the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical monitoring and treatment for eligible 9/11 responders and survivors.

Click here to watch Governor Spanberger and Secretary Meador honor the victims and first responders of the attacks and read below for the full transcript:

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Governor Abigail Spanberger: It's been 25 years since the attacks of 9/11, and we remember those who lost their lives here at the Pentagon, in New York, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. People who never came home, families who have spent 25 years missing them and mourning them.

Secretary of Public Safety & Homeland Security Stanley Meador: We say thank you to those first responders on that day, and to the many who still continue to live with health effects as a result of their response.

Secretary Meador: We say thank you to you, we remember you, and we also say thank you to the first responders that keep us safe every day.

Governor Spanberger: On behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, we remember those we have lost, and we thank those who served that day and continue to serve.

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Click here to watch Secretary Meador reflect on the events of that day at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial - and the lasting impact on first responders, click here to learn more about his story, and read below for the full transcript:

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Governor Abigail Spanberger: So, when was the last time you were back here?

Secretary of Public Safety & Homeland Security Stanley Meador: It's probably been 10 years, if not longer. This was nothing but debris littered all throughout here, but you could feel from where that impact was, you could feel the heat coming off of this. That's one of my most memorable moments was just how intense - and I didn't notice at the time that jet fuel burns clear - that heat was. Standing here felt just like a microwave of heat coming off of it.

Secretary Meador: So, I did eight days here. I remember going home with our clothes. My clothes were so just riddled with filth that I think I threw them away. It was so bad.

Governor Spanberger: What we know is that certainly people who responded to the Pentagon, to the World Trade Center, and to Shanksville, that there's been I mean thousands upon thousands of documented cases of illness - principally various different types of cancers - all linked to the exposure of what people encountered that day.

Governor Spanberger: I think one of the important things is we think about it as a specific day of tragedy, but for a lot of families, the tragedies have continued for years and years and years, with so many first responders who lost their lives to the cancer that they developed as a result of the work that they did in the days following.

Secretary Meador: I look back, just from my family perspective. I am just extremely fortunate, when I see myself as a stage four cancer survivor. Just recently someone asked me, 'How do you feel now that you're kind of past, you beat cancer?' And I said, 'Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that.'

Secretary Meador: You always have that in your mind, and you're always thinking and hopeful that you don't have any issues coming up. But you also have this constant mental reminder of that, and the potential. But you do think about all those that have gone before me that were not able to live on. It's just very tragic and very, very hard.

Governor Spanberger: I would presume that just about every first responder that day would do exactly what they did.

Secretary Meador: Absolutely. I think that is, to your point, I think that is the message. That when you look at public safety and what first responders are, they show up regardless. And then even coming out here today, I mean standing here and just seeing and knowing what was right here, nobody thought for a moment that we should go do something else. Everybody stood right here and did what we needed to do because that's what the American people deserve when we step up to keep them safe.

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Governor Spanberger and Secretary Meador today will attend Arlington County's wreath ceremony at Fire Station 5 - the first Arlington County fire unit to arrive at the Pentagon - to honor victims of the attacks, their families and loved ones, and first responders.

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