On this, the seventh anniversary of 9/11, time has not dimmed the pain and outrage of that appalling day in 2001 when so many lives were lost or irreversibly altered.

The date has become synonymous with loss, sacrifice and bravery. It is a date that will live on in history as a symbol of the free world's determination to fight a terror campaign aimed at the very freedoms we in the United States – and Bermuda – hold dear.

The paths our nations have respectively travelled to reach this point in our histories have not been easy, and from the very beginning the way forward was frequently thwarted.

But in the large majority of cases we have helped each other in times of greatest peril – and always our lands have persevered, through four centuries of challenges, small and large.

Like tempered, steel our nations have became stronger and more just in the pursuit and defence of freedom for all of our peoples – a path that has unfortunately been too long and too hard for some of our fellow citizens.

And certainly there is a long way to go to ensure that freedom and equality of opportunity is the birthright of all of our youth. But as a person of faith, I am an optimist at heart.

And as a student of history I believe that the old saying has some relevance to nations as well as individuals: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

September 11th was a chillingly tragic experience for the United States, the UK and Bermuda – but it is one where we have prevailed. On this day our thoughts turn first to those who paid the ultimate price seven years ago.

It is a date that will continue to be a touchstone for all we hold dear. But it is also fitting that we pause today to reflect on the meaning of freedom, which we have fought so hard and so long to establish and for which so many have died.

Our nations have endured for centuries and, as Bermuda approaches its 400th anniversary, we are reminded that the United States and Bermuda and indeed the entire United Kingdom share a long-standing, exceptionally robust partnership on so many fronts.

As friends and neighbours we are there for each other, just as we have been for 400 years. And despite the certainty that there will be more challenges ahead – I believe that we will continue to overcome whatever the fates may throw at us, especially if we stay true to the basic values that got us here – and to the partnership between our lands that has served us all so well.

Gregory W. Slayton is the United States Consul General to Bermuda