Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
September 11, 2001 started out as a beautiful fall day. Men and women were at work in their offices; children were at school and the hustle and bustle of life continued as it did every day.
Then at 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. At 9:30 a.m., Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower.
Those horrible events were followed by Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon and Flight 93 going down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – its planned final destination unknown.
The events of September 11, 2001, left a scar on the United States and each year since then, we all pause to remember the day 2,977 Americans lost their lives in a terrorist attack.
Twenty-five years later, the scar may be faded, but it remains. Last Friday, towns and cities across the country once again paused to remember those who were lost and honor those who fought for the country’s freedom after the attack.
In Marlinton, a group gathered at the new gazebo where Marlinton Mayor Sam Felton shared an address and the Pocahontas County Veterans Honor Corps presented a 21-gun salute followed by the playing of Taps.
“So many of young people around us – we tend to forget how many kids have been born since that day that have no real clue about what a horrific day that was – that we could not have ever imagined,” Felton said.
As we gather to commemorate the day, Felton said it is important to not only remember the 2,977 lost on that day, but the now more than 60,000 individuals who have since passed away due to health issues caused by being at the World Trade Center that day.
“We must never forget the men, women and the children who lost their lives and whose lives were changed,” he said. “By this ceremony, we remember and we honor the courage of the first responders who went into the burning buildings to save others.
“We honor the sacrifice of our service members, those who have taken the fight since that time,” he continued. “We honor the memory of those who have given their lives, and we pray for the families that were left behind.”
In closing, Felton quoted prominent American abolitionist and orator Wendell Phillips who delivered a speech January 28, 1852, for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.
Felton paraphrased:
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day, or it is rotten. The living sound of today outgrows the dead rind of yesterday.
“Only by continued oversight can those in office and us in regular life, by continued observance, we can become sufficiently awake to the principle and not let liberty be smothered in material prosperity.”
The Honor Corps, as has become the custom, held a ceremony to properly retire old American flags.
