Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C-Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks), a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel who led Marines into Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, issued the following statement on the 25th anniversary of 9/11:

“Twenty-five years ago, our country was attacked. I was a Marine, and I had the honor of leading some of the first Marines into Afghanistan after that day. We went because America had been wounded, and because the people next to us were counting on us to stand up.

“What I remember just as clearly as the mission is what happened back home. Flags went up. Neighbors looked after neighbors. People prayed. They donated blood. For a moment, we were one country.

“That unity did not erase the grief. It honored it. On this anniversary, I ask New Yorkers to remember the lives we lost, the first responders who ran toward the fire and the spirit that followed and the belief that we are stronger when we stand together. That is still worth living up to.”

Smullen served 24 years in the Marine Corps, retiring as a colonel after three combat tours in Afghanistan, including Operation Enduring Freedom in the months after 9/11. He represents New York’s 118th Assembly District.