Good afternoon, General Keys, General Morrow, General Cairns, General Burnett, Congressman Boyd and other distinguished guests. I am most honored to be here at the opening of America's Air & Space Operations Center here at Tyndall Air Force Base. I want to thank you, General Morrow, for inviting me to share this important day with you and I would also like to thank you and your impeccable staff for making me feel so welcome.
 
My brother, Capt. Charles “Chic” Burlingame, was the pilot of American Airlines flight 77 which was hijacked and crashed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Chic was a US Naval Academy grad, a carrier-based fighter pilot, and retired reservist who served 25 years combined active and reserve duty, most of it, ironically, at the Pentagon. He was inspired to become a military fighter pilot by our father, who retired from the Air Force at the rank of Chief Master Sergeant after 20 years of service. His last duty assignment was also at the Pentagon. My father actually started his military career as a teenager in the Navy during WWII, attaining the rank of Aviation Machinist Mate First Class, which is noted on his gravestone at Arlinton National Cemetary. He loved airplanes. The Burlingame family lived on or near Air Force bases all over the country and abroad. In fact, I was born at Strategic Air Command, Offut AFB, when General Curtis Lemay was still there, running the show.
 
I have seen many precision flyovers in my life, and they are always a thrilling, heart-pounding experience. After 9/11, given my family’s long association to aviation, they are also deeply emotional. I’d like to share a little slice of the Burlingame family history, which will give you some insight as to how we experienced 9/11 and what this new air and space center means to me.
 
When my father retired from the Air Force, he went on to work in the aerospace industry and was one of the thousands of individuals who worked on the Apollo space program. I was a fifteen year old girl the night that Apollo 11 landed on the moon. I remember it well, not only for the historic technical achievement that it was but because of something else. I remember watching the fuzzy black and white picture of Neil Armstrong making that final hop on to the surface of the moon and his words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” I turned to look at my father, his eyes riveted to the television screen, and heard him say aloud, as if speaking only to himself, “God, I love this country.”
 
Though I was just a young girl, I knew exactly why he said it and what he meant. He meant that we are a country of achievers. We love competition, respect accomplishment, and, when times are difficult, do not sit and lament our situation but get up and find a way to fix it. We dream big, play hard, laugh at every opportunity and fight to the finish. From the first crude tool carved out of stone to the sophisticated satellites that have revolutionized the way we live, humankind has sought to make the world a better place and Americans have excelled or led the way in almost every category of achievement in the last 100 years. This is what my father was saying.
 
Now, from a remove of years, I also know that he probably couldn’t believe that a poor kid from a family of nine  children that had struggled through the Great Depression was part of Apollo, a miracle of American technology. His Air Force career had given him that opportunity. He loved the values that this country represents and the character of the people who make it go. My mother and father instilled in my brothers and myself a love for this country and each other that made September 11 heartbreakingly sad. But ultimately, it was the love for this country and each other that gave us the strength to get up and carry on. On that blue September morning, the America we grew up in changed before our eyes. 3,000 men, women and eight children–ages 2 to 11–were killed in 102 minutes. Never before had the world watched such stunning and cruel acts unfold in real time. The targets of the attacks were deliberately selected by the enemy for their symbolism. These were the iconic buildings that represented economic strength, military might and political power.

What the enemy did not know or understand is that the core of who we are as a country is not found in our buildings, but in the spirit of our people. In contrast to the 19 terrorists who sacrificed their lives to kill as many people as they could, Americans responded by risking their lives, and in hundreds of cases, making the ultimate sacrifice, to save as many people as they could, people they didn’t know–a triumph of human decency over human depravity that should be never be forgotten. This spectacular new air and space operations center is here because people of purpose and resolve watched 9/11 unfold and said, never again, not on my watch. It is full of the kind of state-of-the-art technology and engineering that the Air Force is noted for. But it is the people who will work inside this building, along with the 1st Air Force, the U.S. Northern Command and their civilian counterparts who will make all the difference in the effort to protect us from a cunning, patient and brutal enemy whose obsession with aviation-borne attacks has not abated. As the daughter and sister of patriots, but especially my dear brother, who was one of you, and who fought to protect his passengers and crew with every last ounce of his strength, I thank you for your service to your country, your dedication to duty, and I wish you Godspeed in your mission as you stand watch over America’s heavens.