Soldiers remember Sept. 11

Photo By Sgt. J.P. Lawrence | Soldiers attend a Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony at Memorial Hall in Contingency Operating Base Adder. Memorial Hall was packed with Soldiers paying their respects, some in their body armor, finding room where they could to stand in the back of the room and in the aisles. The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division is deployed from Fort Bliss to southern Iraq, where they advise and assist Iraqi security forces.  

TALLIL, IRAQ

09.18.2009

Story by Pfc. J.P. Lawrence 

4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq — I was 11 when Sept. 11 happened. Our sixth-grade class was taking a bus safety course and one of my classmates mentioned he heard a plane had crashed into a skyscraper in New York. I thought nothing of it and we finished the safety lesson. When we returned to class, the world had turned upside down. I remember watching the same footage over and over again of the towers falling down, the same horrifying images of people jumping from high windows.

Everywhere around the world, there are millions of people with stories like mine, memories of exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.

With each passing year, a little bit of the shock wears away and while the core memory stays strong, invariably the little bits and pieces around the edges fade.

Eight years and thousands of miles away from the events of that day, Soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division gathered to remember in a ceremony at Contingency Operating Base Adder's Memorial Hall Sept. 11.

There was a gospel choir and a band playing old, sad hymns. A general hush pervaded the room, which was filled to capacity and then some. Tardy Soldiers stood in the back, some still in their body armor. The gospel choir sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful," and some Soldiers in the audience sang along, quietly.

Two speakers recounted their memories of Sept. 11. One had a friend in New York and the other was in the epicenter of U.S. military response at North American Air Defense Command. The theme of both Soldiers' speeches seemed to be 'never forget.'

At 3:45 p.m., everyone observed a moment of silence. It was a reminder that as a result of the events of Sept. 11, the three thousand who died were joined by the more than five thousand who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The names of all COB Adder Soldiers killed were read next. The room, filled with hundreds of Soldiers, was completely still, silent; it was like a temple. There were Soldiers crying and wiping away tears; it was a moment, laden with palpable emotions, grief, awe and rage: the sum of hundreds of memories.

I am reminded of another rallying call, another demand that tragedy not be forgotten. "Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us ... there is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territories and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces — with the unbounding determination of our people — we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God."

That onslaught was Pearl Harbor, another day of infamy that awoke a slumbering giant. The speaker was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a president on the eve of war.

Over and over in this nation's history tragedy has spurred Americans into action: The Alamo or the USS Maine. All of these events have faded into history, but the character of the onslaught is not forgotten. Instead, all of these memories serve as tribute to the American tradition of rallying around a tragedy, stepping forward and serving one's country in its darkest hour.

For many Soldiers on COB Adder, it was a day to remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11. It was also a day to remember the evil that led them to Iraq and Afghanistan, where so many of their peers gave their lives.

• Date Taken: 09.18.2009
• Date Posted: 09.18.2009 03:23
• Story ID: 38948
• Location: TALLIL, IQ