WEBVTT

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September 11 , 2021 Marks the 20th

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anniversary of the attacks on American

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soil that resulted in the death toll

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surpassing that of Pearl Harbor .

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Nearly a decade of sacrifice . Later

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intelligence led to the find fix and

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finish of Osama bin laden , the leader

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of Al Qaeda . Now another decade later

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we are withdrawing from Afghanistan ,

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bringing an end to America's longest

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war . The conflict has shaped a

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generation of military and intelligence

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professionals . No American who is

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ascension age on September 11 , 2001

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will ever forget where they were or

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what they were doing when they first

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learned of the attacks . The attacks

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affected all of us . But the loss of

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our eight shipmates who gave the

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ultimate sacrifice that morning at the

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pentagon made it even more personal

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because they were friends , family and

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colleagues . Commander dan Shan , our

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lieutenant Commander Vince Tolbert ,

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Lieutenant Jonas , panic , Lieutenant

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Darrin Pontell , Angie house ,

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jerry , Moran , Julian cooper and

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brady howl . They were some of the best

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talent in naval intelligence . I went

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downstairs onto the watch floor and the

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first thing I noticed that everyone

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standing up facing one direction tv set

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and my next reaction was jesus broad

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daylight . I was 11 years old sitting

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in my sixth grade classroom wondering

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if we would ever see my uncle stationed

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at the Pentagon alive again . While we

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were fortunate , many families were not

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including those who have loved ones who

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are members of C . N . O . I . P . To

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say that 9 11 drastically changed my

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life would be an understatement And it

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would be impossible to describe in a

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few brief moments . Garrett and I had

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gotten married in March of 2001 and we

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had big hopes and dreams and plans and

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all of those were taken from both of us

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on September 11 of 2001 . Our

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family has missed Dan Smile and his

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hearty laugh every day for the past 20

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years . And I think for our family ,

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the biggest loss was obviously the loss

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of the kid's father of my partner and

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spouse . Kids were 9 , 7 and 18 months

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old at the time . Over time their

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memories have faded and so the stories

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that I tell them are really the

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remnants that they have of their dad

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the day and the actions in

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the days , weeks and years

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afterwards remained very personal to my

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wife Jody and me though the loss that

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was occurred by our community by the

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tragedy of that day was just immense .

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Everyone always speaks with their

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professionalism , the attention to

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detail its nationals nature of going

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after information in order to inform

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decision makers . And so every day I

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strive to live up to that standard .

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Sometimes it feels like it's been 20

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years and sometimes it feels like it's

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been a day , Close my eyes , I can

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remember every minute of 9:11 and

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the week after . Um and then other

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times it feels like forever ago . Uh so

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it's hard to believe it's been 20 years .

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Um but

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time goes on and we just remember and

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love and miss all those we lost .

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Even though I was only two years old ,

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I grew up knowing I wanted to honor him

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in those who selflessly gave their

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lives and continue to put their lives

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online for our freedoms . Our lives

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have changed drastically since that

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fateful day As a family . We have

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commemorated the sacrifice of those

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that died on 9:11 and especially that

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of brady through multiple memorial

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services service initiatives . And

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also our family has administered over

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20 scholarships to graduating seniors

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from Sugar City High School where brady

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attended high school , Like all

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families and everyone who lost someone

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in the attacks , the impact of 9-11

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ripples through our daily lives with

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the many missed opportunities to share

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life events . There's always a feeling

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of sadness when thinking about how much

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of Angie's story was left unlived and

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unwritten for the words engraved on my

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brother's head stone . Those from the

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post it note and she's post it note

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from the book of Nehemiah , I'm doing a

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great work and cannot come down and I

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often think of those words and realize

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that when engaged in a great work , I

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have an obligation to not get

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distracted , not get distracted by

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those who are indifferent to my cause

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or not get distracted by those who

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would wish who wish me harm , what I

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hope those in ip . And throughout Naval

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intelligence will always remember is

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the true patriots these young men and

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women were and that you are carrying on

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their legacy . If there were a lesson

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that I'd want Um are younger kids to

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know or where to take away will be from

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9:11 is I want people to remember what

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The months following 9 11 um , or like

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how our country was united . There was

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unconditional support for your

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community . The flag stood for nothing

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but the United States of America . And

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there was just this real sense of pride

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of being an American and just working

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together as a team . The good and the

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innocent need to be defended and

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protected . And sometimes that

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protection involves fighting and I'm

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grateful to those at CNN wipe DNI the U .

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S . Navy and all those who are willing

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to forego a life of ease and leisure .

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Those who would put their own lives on

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the line and defend this great nation .

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We need to remain focused with our

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allies to protect our nation , our

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citizens and the life which we live .

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I would like to in poor each of you to

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continue to think about contributing to

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the United States , our freedoms

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through public service , whether it be

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in the military or as a civilian

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employee . A little payback .

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A little thanks for the liberties that

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we enjoy . What I want . Younger

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generations to understand about 9:11 is

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that we must do all that we can to not

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let terrorism win . To not

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let terrorists accomplish their goal of

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creating fear and crippling us from

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accomplishing our dreams To the post 9

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11 generation . The tragedy is just

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history . My family continues to share

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the reality of those events and the

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wondering gratitude of what it was like

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to have the country united in paying

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grief and patriotism with a heightened

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awareness of what a good America stands

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for . I hope not only to each year on

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this date . We all can look back and

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remember those that we lost every day .

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We can strive to continue on their leg

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season , make them proud . I would

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encourage everybody to keep those close

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to you close and tell them that you

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love them on a daily basis because you

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never know what's going to happen .

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Please continue to remain focused on

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your mission and don't ever let

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down . We've seen the tragic events in

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kabul this past couple of weeks and it

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reinforces the requirement for us to

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remain vigilant . Well , we should hope

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for the better angels to prevail 9-11

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more than any other event in my life .

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Thought the need for eternal vigilance

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towards those who would do us harm .

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Always think about all the different

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possibilities that are out there and

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everything . Something is too

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impossible to happen today . And every

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day we honor those fallen at CNN type

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by continuing to stand the watch and

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continuing to deliver our briefs to

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ensure that the decision makers for the

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navy have the information necessary to

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make the right choice . We empathize

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with others pain . We're closer as a

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family because we realize how precious

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every day is . We have high respect for

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our military and the family like bonds

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that unite them . The best all of

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us inter related to naval intelligence

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can do to honor the service and

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sacrifices of our fallen shipmates is

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to maintain that vigilance . Their

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sacrifice was not in vain and that we

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miss them dearly . We know and are

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grateful for the work that you do and

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continue to do to protect our country .

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We know the long hours that you keep .

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We know the stress and strain that that

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can take on your personal lives . And

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we just want to thank you for your

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service and for your sacrifice and just

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for always being there for us . Never

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forget to be aware , never forget what

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can happen . Never forget to stay

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strong . Don't just react strong .

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Never forget to pray for strength and

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unity during this climate of internal

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and global threats . And never forget

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to appreciate the vital work and

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sacrifices that C . N . O . I . P . The

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Navy and the military continuously do

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for our freedoms access . Strategic

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surprise are rarely bolts out of the

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blue . The patterns of future conflict

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are outlined beforehand , but the few

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that perceive it must convince the

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others to believe it and act as naval

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intelligence professionals . We have

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dedicated ourselves to understanding

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the current threats to our nation with

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hopes that this knowledge will prevent

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or prepare us to respond to the next

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crisis . Our shared vision is to

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provide decision advantage to Navy

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leaders and the warfighter . 20 years

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later , as we remember , the shipmates

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lost that day will take time to reflect

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on their memories among our extended

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naval intelligence family . Their

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sacrifices serve as motivation for us

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to recommit ourselves to ensure , oh

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and I is positioned to deliver decision

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advantage to our fleet to the Navy ,

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leadership and the nation's decision

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makers . Nothing short of deep

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understanding of our adversaries will

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guarantee that we're prepared as a

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nation to prevail in competition ,

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crisis and conflict . We'll never

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forget . We must never relent .