![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="440" width="780" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
(Getty)
Patriot Day happens every year and is observed as the National Day of Service and Remembrance. It lands on September 11th of each year in memory of the 2,977 killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001. A bill to make a national day of mourning on September 11th was introduced in the U.S. House on October 25, 2001, but it wasn’t actually declared as Patriot Day until 2002. Today, the American flag is flown at half-staff at the White House as well as at all U.S. government buildings. It is also encouraged that American flags get hung on the houses of Americans throughout the country. To honor the day and all it stands for, read on for the best quotes about what being American means and the impact that the September 11th attacks have had on our country.
1. Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward and freedom will be defended.
– President George W. Bush
2. America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.
– Harry S Truman
3. We will win this struggle – not for glory, nor wealth, nor power, but for justice, for freedom, and for peace…so help us God.
– Tom Harkin
4. The attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit. Instead we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom.
– Rudolph W. Giuliani
5. Our flag honors those who have fought to protect it, and is a reminder of the sacrifice of our nation’s founders and heroes. As the ultimate icon of America’s storied history, the Stars and Stripes represents the very best of this nation.
– Joe Barton
6. Americans never quit.
– Douglas MacArthur
7. True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
– Clarence Darrow
8. Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew.
– President George W. Bush
9. What separates us from the animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.
– David Levithan
10. The American flag is the symbol of our freedom, national pride and history.
– Mike Fitzpatrick