Photo By Chad Menegay | Community members gather for a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony Sept. 11, 2024, at Fire and...... read more read more
FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. — Community members gathered for a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony Sept. 11 at Fire and Emergency Services Station 2 to honor the fallen service members, citizens and first responders who perished in the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa.
“Today marks a somber occasion; it’s a day etched in the memory of all who witnessed firsthand the evil present in our world,” said Col. Richard J. Bendelewski, U.S. Army Fort Gregg-Adams Garrison Commander. “September 11, 2001, it is a day that forever altered the lives of so many of us here.”
A crowd of about 50 that included Gold Star family members sat in front of the fire station between a law enforcement vehicle and a fire station ladder truck which displayed a large American flag.
The invocation by Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Levens, FGAV senior religious affairs noncommissioned officer-in-charge, called for strength and grace to those who lost loved ones and for greater unity and peace moving forward.
Staff Sgt. Latoya Denson sang the “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and Bendelewski discussed national unity and a stronger Army in the aftermath of 9/11.
“The spirit that was forged in the fires of 9/11 and the years of conflict that followed has become the foundation upon which our Army stands today,” Bendelewski said. “We are agile. We think critically. We hunger to innovate in the face of adversity. We have honed our ability to build alliances, understand cultures and operate in a complex, global environment.”
The emergency services tradition of the sounding of the bell followed Bendelewski’s remarks. Led by Station Chief Stephen Jessup, this bell ringing is used as a symbol to honor those who have responded to fires and to those who died in saving others on 9/11.
Police Chief Louis P. Ostmann, Jr. then played the final police radio roll call, and, after a moment of silence, Jodie Warren, a Planning and Process Improvement Specialist for the Defense Commissary Agency, performed “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes followed by Staff Sgt. Justin Langdo, a rigger with the U.S. Army Quartermaster School, with “Taps” as a bugler.
The September 11 attacks were the deadliest terrorist attacks in human history, causing the deaths of 2,996 people, including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers who committed murder–suicide. Many more have perished in the aftermath of the attacks.
“We gather each year to remember their sacrifice and our loss, as well as to honor all those brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to respond to these horrific events,” said FGAV Provost Sgt. Maj. John Wright. “We will never forget. We will always remember. We will always be united in the common cause of freedom and against tyranny in all its forms.”
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2024 11:32 |
| Story ID: | 480688 |
| Location: | FORT GREGG-ADAMS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, FGAV pays tribute to those affected by 9/11 terrorist attacks, by Chad Menegay, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
