It’s go time. Let’s get it @PresidentsCup 🇺🇸

First on 60 Minutes: Newly declassified video shows service members from U.S. Joint Special Operations Command rescuing Bravo, one of the two U.S. Air Force officers shot down over Iran in April. Bravo was stranded for two days – alone and badly wounded, behind enemy lines. cbsn.ws/4rcO6UK

Worth the read every year. #neverforget Todd: Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud. – This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco.. We have a situation here….Our plane has been hijacked…..can you understand me? Lisa: (exhaling a deep breath to herself) I understand… Can the hijackers see you talking on the phone? Todd: No Lisa: Can you tell me how many hijackers are on the plane? Todd: There are three that we know of. Lisa: Can you see any weapons? What kind of weapons do they have? Todd: Yes…. they don’t have guns….they have knives – they took over the plane with knives. Lisa: Do you mean…like steak knives? Todd: No, these are razor knives…like box cutters. Lisa: Can you tell what country these people are from? Todd: No…..I don’t know. They sound like they’re from the mid-east. Lisa: Have they said what they want? Todd: Someone announced from the cockpit that there was a bomb on board. He said he was the captain and to stay in our seats and stay quiet. He said that they were meeting these men’s demands and returning to the airport… It was very broken English, and… I’m telling you…it sounded fake! Lisa: Ok sir, please give me your name. Todd: My name is Todd Beamer. Lisa: Ok Todd….my name is Lisa…Do you know your flight number? If you can’t remember, it’s on your ticket. Todd: It’s United Flight 93. Lisa: Now Todd, can you try to tell me exactly what happened? Todd: Two of the hijackers were sitting in first class near the cockpit. A third one was sitting near the back of the coach section. The two up. front got into the cockpit somehow; there was shouting. The third hijacker said he had a bomb. It looks like a bomb. He’s got it tied to his waist with a red belt of some kind. Lisa: So is the door to the cockpit open? Todd: No, the hijackers shut it behind them. Lisa: Has anyone been injured? Todd: Yes, ..they…they killed one passenger sitting in first class. There’s been lots of shouting. We don’t know if the pilots are dead or alive. A flight attendant told me that the pilot and copilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded. Lisa: Where is the 3rd hijacker now Todd? Todd: He’s near the back of the plane. They forced most of the passengers into first class. There are fourteen of us here in the back. Five are flight attendants. He hasn’t noticed that I slipped into this pantry to get the phone. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor in the rear of the plane……….oh Jesus.. Help! Lisa: Todd….are you ok? Tell me what’s happening! Todd: Hello…..We’re going down….I think we’re going to crash……Wait – wait a minute. No, we’re leveling off….we’re ok. I think we may be turning around…..That’s it – we changed directions. Do you hear me….we’re flying east again. Lisa: Ok Todd…. What’s going on with the other passengers? Todd: Everyone is… really scared. A few passengers with cell phones have made calls to relatives. A guy, Jeremy, was talking to his wife just before the hijacking started. She told him that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center……Lisa is that true?? Lisa: Todd…..I have to tell you the truth…..it’s very bad. The World Trade Center is gone. Both of the towers have been destroyed. Todd: Oh God —help us! Lisa: A third plane was taken over by terrorists. It crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC. Our country is under attack….and I’m afraid that your plane may be part of their plan. Todd: Oh dear God. Dear God…….Lisa, will you do something for me? Lisa: I’ll try….if I can….Yes. Todd: I want you to call my wife and my kids for me and tell them what’s happened. Promise me you’ll call.. Lisa: I promise – I’ll call.

When the first plane hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, these men were spread across the world. One was on a flight from Tashkent to Heathrow. Another was in a courtroom thousands of miles from the U.S. finalizing the adoption of his son. A third was underwater off Key West as part of his Special Forces diving course. A fourth was at CIA headquarters, furious that he was evacuated. “Why are we leaving when we can stay and do something?” he asked. When he finally got home, he told his wife: “This is war.” Just over a month later, they became the CIA’s Team Alpha - the first Americans behind enemy lines after 9/11. Here they are at K2 air base in Uzbekistan on October 16, 2001, in front of one of the Black Hawks that flew them into Afghanistan that night. Back row, left to right: Alex Hernandez, Scott Spellmeyer, J. R. Seeger, Mark Rausenberger, David Tyson, Mike Spann. Front row: Andy Hartsog, Justin Sapp (Green Beret captain, attached). Stenciled on the side of the 160th SOAR helicopter was a phrase adapted from the 1987 movie The Untouchables, about Al Capone: “Don’t Bring a Knife to a Gunfight.” Team Alpha’s writ was to extend over Samangan, Balkh, Faryab, Jowzjan, and Sar-e Pol, five of Afghanistan’s thirty-four provinces. This was a land area of over 30,000 square miles—slightly larger than the state of South Carolina. The men of Team Alpha embodied America’s desire to strike back after 9/11. On September 20, President George W. Bush, in an address to a joint session of Congress, described the United States as “a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom,” declaring: “And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment.” One of these eight never came back and is now at rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Team Alpha’s story - a tale of American heroes and how the U.S. won the Afghanistan War in a few weeks before taking 20 years to lose it - is revealed in my book “First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11.” Never forget.

On 9/11, BC lacrosse alum Welles Crowther gave his life to save others—guiding people to safety, carrying strangers down stairwells, and returning again and again. His courage endures. #NeverForget

There are innumerable stories of patriotism and sacrifice from 9/11, and we should reflect on as many of them as we can. Heather “Lucky” Penney and Marc Sasseville took off in unarmed F-16s prepared to sacrifice their own lives if that was what it took to stop another attack on Washington. In an age of polarization and cynicism, it’s worth remembering that there are still Americans willing to serve a cause bigger than themselves—to put duty before self, sacrifice for their fellow citizens, and defend a country and a way of life they believe are worth protecting. That spirit of service, courage, and devotion to one another is among the very best of America. 🇺🇸

Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the baseball world came together through the game that we know and love ⚾️🇺🇸 📽️ “When America Took The Field” 📺 September 10th at 10pm ET on MLB Network

An American Air Force officer was shot down over Iran. Wounded and alone, with the enemy closing in, he spent 50 hours trying to survive as he waited for a rescue. For the first time, he tells his story. This Sunday on 60 Minutes.

Yesterday, using multiple one-way attack surface drones, CENTCOM forces successfully struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran. Three Corsair unmanned surface vessels hit the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, marking the first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations. Last night’s strikes degraded Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial shipping.

To mark America's 250th anniversary, we deployed Corsair through U.S. waterways, past harbors, rivers, and coastlines that tell the story of how these waters have shaped this country's security and prosperity. For 250 years, the seas have underwritten American freedom. Up to 80% of the world's traded goods still move by water. The next 250 years will demand new solutions to protect that. At Saronic, we're building the autonomous fleets that will help secure free trade, protect peace and preserve the freedom to operate on the world's most important waters, for generations to come. Read more: saronic.com/250