PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Never forget.

It’s a message possibly needed more now than ever. On the heels of an extremely divisive presidential debate, Americans are concerned about their future. But one man says that maybe, the solution is looking to the past and recalling what it felt like to come together.

“I never really felt more love from one another or support from one another, especially we as firefighters,” said Capt. Jim Ingledue with Virginia Task Force 2. “So I really do hope that we can get back to that feeling.”

Ingledue remembers hitting the road Sept. 11, heading, at the time, for New York, until plans changed and they reported to Arlington, Va., just outside Washington, D.C., where 184 people died when a plane hit the Pentagon.

“And I’d be lying if I didn’t say we were a little disappointed at first because we were really concerned about our brother firefighters and sister firefighters,” Ingledue recalled.

They arrived minutes before workers unfurled that large American flag draped over the side of the building—a now iconic image.

“It’ll give you goosebumps, you know, when you see that,” Ingledue said. “The flag has always been special to me. I’m very much a patriot, I very much love this country. And I just remember that being a big deal. And seeing the Alexandria firefighters across the roofline of the Pentagon was another thing that will never leave my mind’s eye.”

The camaraderie felt among those responders soon spread to the entire nation as people came together. Ingledue said then, it was more “we the people”— a feeling he hopes we can return to.

“I’m a man of faith,” Ingledue said, “and so I believe the Bible. And in Jeremiah, it talks about the hope. That’s where we get our hope. So, I will always have hope. I’ll never, ever not have that hope.”

Twenty-three years later, he said we should live every day carrying the spirit of 9/11 in our hearts and work harder to ensure the upcoming generation never forgets.