09/10/2026
Tomorrow, we will pause to remember the morning 25 years ago that changed so many lives forever.
For some, September 11 is history. For many others, including our friends, neighbors, colleagues and members of our own community, it is a day they carry with them still.
Tonight, on the eve of the 25th anniversary, we’re honored to share a personal reflection from City of Jacksonville Deputy Director of Public Affairs Heather Schatz, who was working as a CBS News producer in New York City on September 11, 2001.
This is what it means to her:
“Never forget,” they say.
For some of us - the ones who were there on September 11, 2001 and in the days that followed - that’s not an option. Not even 25 years later.
Despite our best efforts, the sights, sounds and smells of 9/11 come rushing back this week like clockwork, especially tonight.
For me, most of those memories are bad ones. I watched a plane fly into Tower 2 while Tower 1 was already engulfed in flames. I didn’t know where my husband - who worked in Tower 7, which fell later that afternoon - was for hours on end. And I spent days reliving 9/11 in an edit bay, at Ground Zero and at vigils for the missing (I was a network producer for CBS News in NYC at the time).
But there were some good ones, too. And most involve first responders. I saw them rushing into NYC from NJ (and later from all over the US) while everyone else was trying to get out. I watched them work feverishly around the clock, despite risks to their own health, to save anyone they could and comforting each other when they weren’t successful. And I witnessed New Yorkers come together in ways I never thought possible to support these first responders - some of whom stayed in the area for months - however they could.
So nowadays, when people say “never forget” to me, I try to focus on remembering these last few things, and how lucky we are to have heroes like these in our lives - and in our city.
Thank you for your service then. And now.
- Heather Schatz
