Photo By Mark Schauer | During a Patriot Day commemoration on September 8, 2022, an honor guard comprised of...... read more read more
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U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) remembered the 21st anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks in a somber Patriot Day ceremony earlier today.
Dozens of YPG personnel were on hand for the formal ceremony followed by a five kilometer remembrance walk-run.
An honor guard comprised of YPG Soldiers, police officers, and firefighters raised the American flag and lowered it to half mast as the crowd looked on. The patter of a light rain falling on canopies above folding chairs for the audience was the only sound heard.
In remarks at the ceremony, Col. Patrick McFall, YPG commander, reflected upon the bitter losses of that grim day.
“At the World Trade Center, more than 2,700 people were killed in the initial devastation,” he said. “At the Pentagon, the dead included officers and enlisted Soldiers, civilian employees and contractors. The terrible toll might well have been even higher that day if the brave passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 hasn’t fought off their plane’s hijackers, sacrificing their own lives in the process.”
McFall gave particular credit to the heroism displayed by the more than 400 police officers and firefighters, and emergency medical technicians killed in a valiant effort to save others that day.
“It is reckoned that there were about 18,000 people inside the World Trade Center towers when the planes struck that morning: that more than 15,000 were saved is thanks to the bravery and devotion to duty of the first responders. Today, we mourn their loss and honor their sacrifice.”
McFall also asked the audience to remember the burden borne by our nation’s Soldiers and the key role YPG played in saving countless others from death and injury.
“After 9/11, thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our nation and values,” he said. “But thousands— I repeat, thousands-- more of our troops were saved from death and injury by the work performed by our dedicated employees at Yuma Proving Ground. I know the YPG workforce will always rise to any challenge if it involves protecting our nation and its troops.”
McFall said this important work could not have been accomplished without the longstanding support of the Yuma community, which YPG has enjoyed for the past 80 years.
“The citizens of Yuma County are the most patriotic and supportive of the military that I have encountered in my 25 years in uniform. Local government organizations like Yuma County and the City of Yuma, and groups like the ‘Yuma 50’ have always given their utmost to help us carry out our vital mission on behalf of this nation’s security.”
McFall vowed to continue to honor the sacrifices wrought by the September 11th attacks and urged others to live by the attack’s important lesson.
“If 9/11 taught us one thing, it is that we can never take for granted that the victories won on behalf of freedom will endure -- they must be vigorously defended by a new generation. Freedom isn’t free—it never has been. Let this day be a reminder of that for all time.”
Following the walk-run, at 8:46 AM YPG firefighters used their vehicles to produce a 'cacophony of sound' to mark the time the first plane struck World Trade Center Tower #1 that fateful morning in 2001.
| Date Taken: | 09.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.08.2022 13:57 |
| Story ID: | 428841 |
| Location: | YUMA PROVING GROUND, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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