Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / September 11th National Day of Remembrance; a discussion with members from HFD

Transcript

September 11th National Day of Remembrance; a discussion with members from HFD · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:15
  Welcome to the One Oahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and today is September 11th, 2025.
• 0:21
  We're joined this week by Captain Malcolm Medrano and Fire
• 0:24
  Inspector Carl Otsuka of the Honolulu Fire Department.
• 0:28
  Thank you both for making some time.
• 0:30
  Glad to be here.
• 0:31
  Yeah. Thanks for having us, Brandi.
• 0:32
  And, guys, you know, we thought it'd be appropriate
• 0:34
  to get you on because today is National Day of Remembrance.
• 0:37
  As we honor the nearly 3000 victims of the twin tower attacks in New York City
• 0:41
  and those in Shanksville Pennsylvania, on September 11th, 2001.
• 0:45
  First off, Capt. Mal, why don't we start with you?
• 0:48
  What what does that mean to you?
• 0:51
  Well, that day really brings it home.
• 0:54
  You know, we take we swear an oath to protect the community.
• 0:58
  And sometimes, you know, as we go
• 1:01
  about our rescues and extinguishing fires and helping people
• 1:05
  in the community, we sometimes might forget about that.
• 1:09
  How dangerous a job really is.
• 1:12
  So I think that event,
• 1:14
  you know, really solidified that commitment
• 1:17
  and and the dedication within myself to say,
• 1:21
  you know what this is and this is the calling.
• 1:23
  This is what I signed up for.
• 1:24
  I took a sworn oath.
• 1:26
  And that's the ultimate sacrifice.
• 1:29
  If that were to happen, Carl, about you.
• 1:33
  That they would that they means me.
• 1:36
  Well, first of all, on that day,
• 1:39
  at around 2:00, one,
• 1:42
  2:00 in the morning, our dispatch dispatched us.
• 1:45
  We were actually on duty.
• 1:48
  And all the dispatch said was by the orders of the fire chief,
• 1:53
  you're to wake up and turn on your TVs.
• 1:57
  So this was not a general,
• 2:00
  dispatch to all the stations.
• 2:03
  Woke up, turned on the TV, and my heart sank.
• 2:07
  If you didn't know, around the world,
• 2:11
  firefighters, we, you know, don't personally know each other.
• 2:16
  We visit each other, we treat patches, treat T-shirts.
• 2:20
  And, I've been welcomed into their firehouses
• 2:25
  and been invited to share a meal with them.
• 2:30
  And have done so, on occasion.
• 2:34
  But this is across the United States, across the world.
• 2:38
  And my heart sank because I felt like I was losing,
• 2:42
  family in that World Trade Center terrorist attack.
• 2:47
  Captain, what about you?
• 2:48
  Where were you on that?
• 2:48
  Did you remember when you first saw?
• 2:51
  I do, I remember that that morning really well.
• 2:54
  I was actually on light duty at our old headquarters,
• 2:57
  a co-packer at the airport trade center.
• 3:00
  And so I was working with administration back then.
• 3:04
  Was still a proby,
• 3:06
  on probation, that is.
• 3:08
  And, you know, it was it was eerie because there are no airplanes in the air.
• 3:14
  And over there near the airport.
• 3:16
  So it was it was weird.
• 3:18
  It was quiet.
• 3:20
  It was very somber.
• 3:22
  And I think what helped us this is we're helping the chiefs plan.
• 3:27
  You know what?
• 3:27
  How do we how do we deal with what's happening?
• 3:30
  But that's,
• 3:32
  you know, so driving in into work
• 3:35
  and it was, you know, again, reflecting on.
• 3:39
  Okay. And being so young in, in my career.
• 3:42
  You know, is this is it? Am I ready for it?
• 3:45
  So there was a there was a moment of reflection of okay.
• 3:48
  And, you know, this is real.
• 3:50
  The dedication and commitment,
• 3:53
  to and it just
• 3:54
  solidifies more my decision to to join the whole fire department.
• 3:59
  And I know that you guys were kind of young in your careers, and I apologize.
• 4:02
  I was young in life, so I don't remember,
• 4:06
  just kind of what our posturing was here at the Honolulu Fire Department.
• 4:09
  But what what was done that day from the department standpoint.
• 4:14
  So, as Carl was mentioning earlier, you know, over, if you were on duty,
• 4:18
  then you would have gotten that message over, our, our radio system.
• 4:22
  To make sure that you tuned in, turned on the TV.
• 4:26
  We have received that phone
• 4:28
  call, to do the same, but we were.
• 4:31
  It was all hands on deck.
• 4:33
  It was a mandatory call.
• 4:34
  Go ahead and, start coming in, because we we didn't know what we were up against.
• 4:39
  And especially, you know, it's one thing that the incident,
• 4:42
  that happened, we learned about counter-terrorism.
• 4:45
  We learned about
• 4:46
  weapons of mass destruction even more so, and hazardous materials.
• 4:49
  And so it,
• 4:50
  it was
• 4:51
  the uncertainty, which is what really,
• 4:55
  you know, spurred on action.
• 4:57
  So we had to start making action plans at headquarters.
• 5:00
  I remember that day really well.
• 5:01
  It was, but that helped us, I think, deal with with what was happening as well to.
• 5:07
  Yeah.
• 5:07
  And that kind of brings me to my next question.
• 5:10
  How did that change the way that this department prepares?
• 5:13
  You know, you talked about maybe terrorism wasn't something that we were
• 5:16
  technically training for, ahead of this, this incident.
• 5:19
  But how did that change the way the department functions now, to this day.
• 5:23
  One of the pivotal things,
• 5:27
  was our communications, our interoperability between agencies.
• 5:31
  And that was driven that was found out through the investigation of, of of 911.
• 5:36
  And what what transpired?
• 5:37
  So one was communications.
• 5:40
  It allows us with the federal Communications Commission
• 5:43
  to have our own bandwidth.
• 5:44
  So 800MHz is strictly public safety.
• 5:48
  So now we have our own bandwidth that helps us talk to each other.
• 5:51
  We have radios that actually help us to talk to other departments
• 5:55
  and city, our city and both city and federal as well.
• 5:59
  So communication was key.
• 6:01
  Also training,
• 6:03
  you know, Homeland Security became, the term back then, right,
• 6:08
  to include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear types of
• 6:14
  incidents.
• 6:14
  So training also came with it.
• 6:17
  So now we have our, we have our two hazmat units that actually
• 6:21
  and not just the two hazmat units but across the department.
• 6:23
  We're prepared more for that type of situation.
• 6:28
  I think the other thing too is, you know, we learned even post event how bad,
• 6:34
  you know, breathing in
• 6:36
  stuff that and this might be after the fire is out.
• 6:40
  And in this case after the collapse of the building is how that affects,
• 6:45
  people's health. Right.
• 6:46
  And still there are a lot of those that passed away
• 6:50
  just in the because of doing recovery work.
• 6:54
  Not so much being at the time that the towers collapsed.
• 6:57
  But, yeah, we've come a long way,
• 7:00
  since then.
• 7:00
  On being prepared.
• 7:03
  And of course, to to add to the communication standpoint,
• 7:07
  when Captain Mel and I,
• 7:11
  first got in, there were only two radios per truck,
• 7:15
  one for the driver and one for the captain.
• 7:19
  After 911, every single firefighter
• 7:22
  had a radio.
• 7:25
  The other thing that happened after 911 is,
• 7:30
  we went to kind of like a,
• 7:33
  a system
• 7:34
  of colors to we had to lock down the stations.
• 7:39
  For, for safety, for our safety.
• 7:43
  Because if anything happens to the firefighters, police officers
• 7:47
  or EMS people,
• 7:51
  who's going to be there to to help the public, right.
• 7:54
  So we actually had to lock down the stations and people couldn't
• 7:58
  visit anymore.
• 7:59
  And that was something that we took joy in
• 8:02
  when the community came by to check us out,
• 8:05
  you know, check out our trucks, kids, that sort of thing.
• 8:09
  Carl, you mentioned,
• 8:10
  you know, the other firehouses are kind of like your ohana, right?
• 8:14
  Whether you know them or not.
• 8:15
  Can you talk about the ways that the NY FD
• 8:20
  is celebrated here in Honolulu?
• 8:23
  Okay, so the city of New York was gracious enough to give us
• 8:26
  a piece of the I-beam from the World Trade Center building one of them,
• 8:30
  and we made a memorial so that we could remember
• 8:35
  the 343 firefighters that died on that particular day.
• 8:39
  That memorial also reminds us that
• 8:42
  to this day, firefighters who responded to the World Trade Center
• 8:47
  terrorist attacks are still dying of cancers, of respiratory illnesses.
• 8:53
  Third thing that it reminds us of is
• 8:56
  how to actually approach any emergency, you know.
• 9:02
  Prior to nine, 11,
• 9:04
  if our team had a fire, I'd be rushing in
• 9:10
  just just with, without regard to my safety.
• 9:16
  Grab the hose, just rush in,
• 9:18
  put out fires, or rush in, try to grab people.
• 9:22
  You know that. That sort of thing.
• 9:24
  We now have to step back.
• 9:28
  Look at the bigger picture.
• 9:30
  And this is through our training.
• 9:33
  Safety first. And,
• 9:36
  actually strategize
• 9:38
  how we're going to react to whatever increased.
• 9:42
  Trying to add to that. Yeah.
• 9:44
  You know, it's a representation.
• 9:46
  That that Jeff from FDNY, being,
• 9:51
  being part of the tower, we have that girder that we know
• 9:54
  that that's, you know, through investigation.
• 9:58
  You know what?
• 9:59
  What actually led to the collapse was,
• 10:02
  was the melting of the fasteners in the girders and so on and so forth.
• 10:06
  So having that in our courtyard, you know, it's,
• 10:09
  we pass it, those who come to headquarters to work and pass it every day.
• 10:14
  Is is a really great reminder that can we we
• 10:18
  we have something from the most, impactful emergency
• 10:23
  incident that happened, but we have it in our courtyard as a remembrance.
• 10:27
  And that's where, you know, the the coin term of never forgetting,
• 10:31
  is that's what sticks in our minds each and every day.
• 10:36
  You guys talk about other.
• 10:38
  I know that there's, like, a surfboard.
• 10:39
  There's some pictures.
• 10:41
  What other ways is FDNY and that incident?
• 10:44
  911. Honored here at the. You.
• 10:48
  We do have a surfboard that's on display in our headquarters.
• 10:51
  And this surfboard was created,
• 10:55
  by one of our firefighters, Jay Rush.
• 10:57
  And at the time, he made two identical surfboards.
• 11:01
  The second surfboard was gifted to the city of New York fire Department,
• 11:06
  and I'm not sure where it's displayed.
• 11:11
  I've never been to New York, but,
• 11:14
  I do plan on
• 11:15
  searching that for that surfboard so that, you know, we could,
• 11:19
  you know, educate our Honolulu public
• 11:22
  where they could see it.
• 11:25
  That surfboard has 343 silhouettes on it.
• 11:29
  Of the 343 that that perished on September 11th.
• 11:34
  The names of every single person,
• 11:37
  every every single firefighter that perished
• 11:40
  on that day, 343 names.
• 11:43
  So I've had people,
• 11:47
  come through our museum tours
• 11:49
  and say, oh, my goodness, I know this person.
• 11:53
  I know this person.
• 11:55
  He had their names on there and it just breaks your heart.
• 11:58
  They were friends or family.
• 12:00
  And so,
• 12:02
  it is a beautiful piece of work, of art and,
• 12:08
  if any of the public wants to come and see it,
• 12:10
  we do have museum tours every third Saturday of each month.
• 12:15
  Just sign up from our website.
• 12:19
  I was going to add brandy that,
• 12:21
  you know, that surfboard that Jay Rush actually,
• 12:25
  you know, created and not that, but both of them.
• 12:28
  But there's elements on that surfboard, like Carl was mentioning.
• 12:31
  The silhouettes.
• 12:32
  It's actually nine feet, 11in long to represent 911.
• 12:37
  There's even.
• 12:38
  And it was a community project.
• 12:41
  We had designers from the community help with the design work.
• 12:45
  For example, the copper, backing
• 12:48
  of where our Maltese crosses.
• 12:51
  So that's on the surfboard.
• 12:53
  It's also, on the perimeter, the tea leaf, which represents us. So.
• 12:59
  So it was a it was a gift of of aloha, from Hawaii.
• 13:03
  It was a community gift.
• 13:05
  Even vendors, you know, donating supplies
• 13:08
  to make it so that the boards could be created.
• 13:11
  So, there was also on the actual presentation, in New York,
• 13:18
  there were, there are captain
• 13:21
  Leo P, junior.
• 13:24
  There was Captain Curtis.
• 13:25
  I wore he, our radio superintendent, Russell Cooper, and our fire inspector.
• 13:30
  Brian's a blond who actually went there to present the surfboard
• 13:33
  along with the Camino Schools elementary school.
• 13:36
  So it was, it was a it was a great event.
• 13:39
  You know, to to show that this is, you know, even though we're out here
• 13:44
  so far away from them on the East Coast, we were thinking about them.
• 13:49
  Yeah. That's awesome.
• 13:51
  I know when we were talking before this, you also mentioned in ukulele.
• 13:54
  What's the story behind that?
• 13:57
  So again, you know, wanting to have
• 14:00
  some Hawaiian cultural, resemblance and gifting it to FDNY.
• 14:05
  So retired.
• 14:06
  He he's now retired.
• 14:08
  But firefighter Joe Boy Sousa,
• 14:11
  actually, created, a ukulele and with some in,
• 14:16
  in insets of the Hawaiian Islands
• 14:18
  and also HFD so that so he made and that's
• 14:22
  the only the one and only that he made to be gifted to FDNY.
• 14:26
  And a we're assuming that it's presented somewhere
• 14:30
  with, with the surfboard as well.
• 14:33
  And so this year
• 14:34
  on September 11th, 2025, where will you be?
• 14:38
  So like, every, every nine, 11 in the morning,
• 14:42
  there's there's an announcement, there's a moment of silence.
• 14:45
  So we do that internally within the department to,
• 14:48
  you know, to pay our respects and to never forget,
• 14:51
  there's other things that happen internally.
• 14:53
  A more at the station level.
• 14:55
  So the CrossFit workout gang,
• 14:57
  they do their 343 burpees.
• 15:00
  There's there's, I'll go canoe paddling
• 15:03
  gang, you know, they do 343 of their strokes.
• 15:07
  There's even some hikes.
• 15:09
  It's going up.
• 15:10
  Koko head crater.
• 15:11
  So those are all, you know, other personalized types of, remembrance things
• 15:17
  that go on, on that day for the city will be involved with at Tamarind Park.
• 15:22
  That'll be a formal, ceremony, remembrance ceremony.
• 15:27
  That'll happen at noon.
• 15:30
  The in downtown Honolulu.
• 15:32
  And then, of course, the mayor's 911 remembrance ceremony,
• 15:35
  which will be at the eternal flame at Hall Harley, starting at, 5 p.m..
• 15:39
  Is there anything else that you guys do throughout the year?
• 15:43
  I've seen, you know, firefighters do the great Aloha run in full gear.
• 15:47
  What kind of stuff happens throughout the year?
• 15:49
  Yeah.
• 15:49
  So, there's a group that participates in full turnout.
• 15:53
  So, yeah, not in the running.
• 15:55
  Running shorts or shoes, the full turnouts.
• 15:57
  And they they'll do the great aloha run.
• 15:59
  And we do that jointly with the Federal Fire Department
• 16:02
  and the state airport firefighters as well, too.
• 16:05
  And we do it as a firefighter group.
• 16:06
  Don't forget, they have the SCBA tanks on, too.
• 16:09
  So how much weight does that a.
• 16:11
  Bout 40 to 60. Pounds.
• 16:14
  The turnouts and the tank turnouts. Anything.
• 16:16
  Can you talk about how this incident affected recruiting?
• 16:20
  It seemed as if there was kind of a bump.
• 16:22
  Like everyone wanted to be a firefighter all of a sudden after this incident.
• 16:25
  If you could talk about that and why you think that happened? Yes.
• 16:29
  So we saw an uptick in, recruitment.
• 16:32
  You know, the whole patriotism, right?
• 16:33
  This this attack that happened not just on the towers, but it impacted.
• 16:39
  And it was an attack on our entire nation.
• 16:42
  So, yes, there was an uptick in recruitment.
• 16:46
  Those were changing careers.
• 16:48
  Even there were some, even some NFL players that were even,
• 16:52
  coming to the fire service.
• 16:54
  Professional athletes,
• 16:57
  military, retirees, which typically, you know,
• 17:00
  they, they, they signed up for after their military career.
• 17:03
  But but we, we saw an uptick and,
• 17:06
  you know, because of wanting to to contribute
• 17:10
  and wanted to protect and being a resilient country that we are
• 17:14
  to actually contribute their their time and their energies
• 17:17
  and to fight back and never forget.
• 17:21
  With the work that you do in the community. Carl.
• 17:23
  I know that I've seen it like firsthand, little kids come up to you
• 17:27
  and they just look at you like you are a god, right?
• 17:30
  Like what?
• 17:31
  What is that feeling like? Because that doesn't happen to me.
• 17:36
  What makes makes you feel good?
• 17:38
  It really does.
• 17:41
  And I do downplay it.
• 17:44
  It's it's a it's a good feeling,
• 17:47
  but, just do my job.
• 17:50
  I wrote about this that people in the fire service have a hard time.
• 17:52
  Kind of like internalizing that and, like, seeing what we see.
• 17:56
  But, captain, I mean anything.
• 17:58
  Yeah. You know, because that's not our motivation of why.
• 18:00
  Why we do this job, right?
• 18:02
  And but yet we have to accept we have to acknowledge that those acts
• 18:07
  from the kids, like from the kupuna, from, from whoever in the community.
• 18:12
  So we appreciate we appreciate that.
• 18:15
  But yeah, so not if it feels awkward and we try to redirect
• 18:19
  and redirect saying, well, you know, yeah,
• 18:21
  you know, you can help Mom and dad or you can help and the uncle in that way.
• 18:24
  And so, you know, being
• 18:26
  and we do a lot of community relations activities and events.
• 18:28
  Right.
• 18:29
  And so we try to redirect redirect that,
• 18:32
  that attention and refocus it back on.
• 18:35
  Hey, you know, you're you can help your community as well too.
• 18:39
  Right.
• 18:40
  Mom, dad and uncle cousins or someone that you don't even necessarily know.
• 18:45
  Right.
• 18:46
  So in some respects in some some way and shape and form, we,
• 18:51
  we almost we used to give out a and deputize them as junior firefighters.
• 18:56
  So we give them a sticker and put it on them to kind of,
• 18:59
  you know, to have them realize that I can do good for the community too.
• 19:06
  But with
• 19:06
  that said, you know, you all have people that you've
• 19:10
  maybe mentored, but also pretty much inspired camp.
• 19:13
  Now you have a daughter who's become a strong, independent woman
• 19:16
  who wants to become a leader in our community, in a field
• 19:18
  that maybe women haven't, succeeded in in the past.
• 19:23
  What is that? That has to come from somewhere.
• 19:25
  And I think at some point she was looking at you.
• 19:27
  Yeah.
• 19:28
  Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. You.
• 19:30
  Because the kids grew up in the firehouse with us, right?
• 19:34
  So they come to the firehouse.
• 19:38
  Whether to have have dinner
• 19:40
  or whether just just to say hello or play volleyball or whatever.
• 19:44
  Right.
• 19:44
  So they grew up, they they grew up, they grow up around the station
• 19:48
  and, and firefighters and they see the work that we do.
• 19:51
  So I think that kind of motivates them and say, you know, hey, you know, that
• 19:55
  that's doing good community work and that instills that within themselves.
• 20:00
  So I think that's that's a big part of of who we are.
• 20:03
  And, that,
• 20:05
  you know, we impact our kids, we impact those in the community.
• 20:08
  And I think that that brings satisfaction to us.
• 20:11
  But yeah, and I think
• 20:14
  that's really something that has
• 20:17
  helped her move to in her career and what she wants to do.
• 20:21
  And what does that mean to you as a father to see that.
• 20:23
  Oh that's awesome.
• 20:24
  I mean, that's I think what every parent wishes is to just
• 20:30
  to see that their child has dreams,
• 20:34
  whether it be career based or family based or whatever, that that dream is.
• 20:39
  But for, for
• 20:41
  for them to persevere and to actually, you know, achieve their dreams.
• 20:46
  And in my daughter's case, you know, she's successful already,
• 20:50
  both academically and in her career, but yet
• 20:53
  she's not satisfied with, you know, just doing what she's doing now.
• 20:57
  But she wants to actually, upgrade her skill and also
• 21:02
  to do more for the community in that capacity.
• 21:06
  Yeah. What do you think that came from?
• 21:10
  Yeah, I guess it came from.
• 21:12
  Yeah, I hope it came from me.
• 21:15
  I we still have a hard time admitting, you know, that it did.
• 21:19
  But, yeah, I, I hope I had some influence.
• 21:22
  I think I had a tremendous impact in in her decisions.
• 21:26
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 21:28
  So, yeah.
• 21:30
  My son Pilar, he's like, 33 years old now.
• 21:36
  But I think he's genuinely proud of me.
• 21:42
  I think one of the things that,
• 21:45
  really impacted him was seeing me on the news
• 21:48
  on top of the mountain, putting out fires with my brush jacket, which, I.
• 21:53
  Mean, we're.
• 21:54
  We weren't we weren't supposed to be doing because we're not supposed to take off
• 21:58
  your your PPE, too.
• 22:00
  I leave this in the podcast. Carlos. Why take this up?
• 22:02
  Leave it up. Okay. Got it.
• 22:05
  But he actually developed,
• 22:08
  really good work ethic.
• 22:11
  Works hard, does things
• 22:14
  100% helps where he can,
• 22:18
  without being asked. So,
• 22:21
  and I think he's developed integrity
• 22:26
  where he does do things,
• 22:30
  selfless things.
• 22:32
  Take an old person's hand walks, walk him across the street, that sort of thing
• 22:36
  in downtown because he's he's working in downtown now.
• 22:40
  And, yeah, the work ethic helped him
• 22:46
  get through his two degrees,
• 22:49
  the bachelor's and master's and,
• 22:53
  and continues with his job
• 22:55
  and currently working with the governor and the governor's office.
• 22:59
  So the same question I asked the Catamount, where did that come from?
• 23:03
  I definitely think it came from me because,
• 23:08
  you know, during my career,
• 23:12
  I actually worked two jobs.
• 23:15
  You're not going to get rich, but,
• 23:18
  you know, being a firefighter is definitely not.
• 23:22
  And sometimes in Hawaii, we do need two jobs to make ends meet.
• 23:26
  Yeah.
• 23:27
  So the the work that I put in, outside
• 23:32
  and for the department is all about helping the community.
• 23:36
  You know, my all day job.
• 23:37
  So. Guys, is there anything that we missed?
• 23:40
  I did want to add, there's a there's a run walk, A5K run walk.
• 23:46
  That is held in, memorializing,
• 23:50
  firefighter Stephen Siller.
• 23:53
  And he's from squad one in Brooklyn.
• 23:55
  And he got off shift that morning
• 23:57
  and was on his way home when the incident happened.
• 24:01
  He turned around, went back to go get his gear,
• 24:04
  and he went to this tunnel in Brooklyn called the Battery Tunnel.
• 24:08
  But the girls were closed.
• 24:09
  So his whole goal was to meet up with his crew
• 24:13
  because even though he was off, he wanted to help out.
• 24:17
  So he actually ran with his full gear
• 24:20
  and his equipment and ran to meet up with his his crew,
• 24:25
  and ultimately lost his life.
• 24:27
  So there's a reenactment of that five K.
• 24:29
  So Captain Ortiz went in 2011,
• 24:33
  not just to New York to actually participate and represent HFD,
• 24:37
  but he went to London because it happens all over the world.
• 24:40
  So that's another event that, you know, we we remember that we participated
• 24:45
  in, to remember, what happened that day and especially for that firefighter.
• 24:50
  Yeah. Carl, I think that.
• 24:53
  The 911 terrorist attacks affected all of us in different ways.
• 24:58
  It's one of the events that we all remember
• 25:02
  where we were at the time. And,
• 25:07
  I was actually supposed to fly out to Vegas that night,
• 25:10
  and all of the flights are canceled.
• 25:13
  My wife was on business in North Carolina,
• 25:15
  got stuck in North Carolina, and,
• 25:19
  you know, me having to be on call,
• 25:26
  and in
• 25:27
  the emergency after the emergency proclamation,
• 25:31
  I really depended on my family
• 25:34
  to help care for my son,
• 25:36
  because my wife was in here, and,
• 25:40
  so we all, we all had adjustments to make,
• 25:44
  and it made us, I think, a little bit stronger.
• 25:50
  The one thing that the terrorists
• 25:51
  didn't expect was for our nation to become more unified.
• 25:58
  There were at the time, no Democrats and the Republicans.
• 26:02
  It was just, you know, one one country.
• 26:06
  And we were
• 26:09
  much, much more able
• 26:12
  to get things done to heal faster.
• 26:16
  And it made our our nation stronger.
• 26:20
  Well said.
• 26:22
  Well, thank you again, both of you, for your time.
• 26:25
  And I know that we're all appreciative of your service as well.
• 26:28
  And mahalo to all of you for listening.
• 26:30
  And until next time, Aloha.