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 TODD WETHERINGTON | DAILY HERALD Members of the local fire and police departments salute as the sound of “Taps” fills the T.J. Davis Recreation Center gymnasium Thursday during a 9/11 Patriot's Day service. The empty flag-draped casket represents those who fell on Sept. 11. |
Representatives of fire departments, police and sheriff's departments and military services personnel, along with county and city leaders, and five different veterans groups took part in the ceremony originally scheduled for Centennial Park, but moved inside because of the weather. Attendance was dampened somewhat by the rain.
Master of Ceremonies Staff Sgt. Darrick McGee welcomed the crowd that filled one side of the basketball court bleachers.
He drew their attention to four caps placed on the floor in front of four empty wreath stands to be filled later.
“The caps have been placed to represent those killed at the Pentagon; lives of law enforcement, lives of fire and rescue and lives of our first responders. We are here to remember them,” said McGee, before he introduced Roanoke Rapids Mayor Drewery Beale.
Beale told the audience that on this day, he always thinks of another day that America will always remember, Dec. 7, 1941. He pointed out Valley resident Dallas Jones, a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, and applause filled the center.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank our law enforcement, our firefighters and our rescue squads; everybody that serves in some sort of emergency capacity,” Beale said.
“Think what it would be like if you went to bed tonight and you did not have a fire department. Think what it would be like if you didn't have a police department or a rescue squad. Think what it would be like if you didn't have the military.”
“The men and women who have given their lives so we can hold sessions such as this ... a lot of countries cannot do this. We have so much to be thankful for in The United States of America. No matter how bad people think things are, we should always be thankful for what we have.”
Next McGee introduced Army Lt. Col. George W. Sterling Jr., commander of the Raleigh Recruiting Battalion, 19th Army Command.
Sterling told the audience what he remembers about September 11, 2001.
Like most people, Sterling remembers instances of tragedy and infamy by what they were doing at that moment in time.
Sterling recalled what went through his mind when he heard of a plane hitting the World Trade Center in New York City.
“My first thought was that the pilot must have had a bad day; that he must have been trying to make a statement of some kind. General Kessinger activated TAC, which is crises action. I thought maybe that was for management of possible casualties, not in a sense of we were under attack, but how we help local law enforcement and rescue manage a mass casualty event.”
“Then, when the second plane hit, most of us realized something here wasn't really right. There was something more to this story.”
All the while, Sterling, who was in the basement of the Pentagon that day, was talking to a friend, Paul Hogan, who was on the second floor of the Pentagon. They heard a call that said planes were “in bound.” Hogan was killed instantly when the third aircraft struck the Pentagon. “It was right then, I had an immediate impact of what was going on,” Sterling said.
“What I saw on both the faces of military and civilians in the Pentagon that day was fear, and not fear of an activity, but fear of, ‘how can this possibly be happening in our homeland'. How is The United States of America being attacked? Who has the audacity to attack a peace-loving people?”
Sterling, who has served with the Special Forces in Afghanistan, told the audience this is the first time he has actually taken the time to reflect on what happened that day.
“Since that day, I've been out there doing my thing. I think it is so critically important what you guys are doing here today, celebrating this event. I say celebrate in a sense that we not forget that we are not always loved and liked and that we are and must remain vigilant.”
After Sterling's remarks, local firefighters and law enforcement and rescue personnel took part in reading the names of the 343 of their counterparts who were killed trying to rescue the victims in both Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. After each group of names was read, a bell was tolled four times.
“Amazing Grace,” followed by “Taps” echoed throughout the gym as people bowed their heads remembering those killed.
After a benediction by Randy Martin, the audience moved outside the center and watched as 343 balloons were released into the sky. Bells tolled from the Episcopal Church, signifying the last plane that went down at just about that time, at 10:09 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Members of the five veterans' organizations were invited to a luncheon later that morning at The Carolina Restaurant, where Sterling gave them a briefing about the challenges our military still faces in Afghanistan.
Sterling told them they perform a valuable service in helping the military recruit new members, by serving as an example and by telling our young people how important it is to serve our country.
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