Photo By Avery Schneider | New York Army National Guard Lt. Col. Joseph Whaley, commander of the 1st Battalion,...... read more read more
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NEW YORK – As the state and nation commemorated the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, New York Governor Kathy Hochul capped a series of New York National Guard remembrance events with a state proclamation honoring the men and women of the National Guard for their service two decades ago.
Hochul presented the proclamation to Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the Adjutant General of New York and a contingent of 50 Soldiers at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan September 11, 2021.
“I will always be humbled by the thought that there's people out there, like our National Guard, who are simply, by day, at times our neighbors, you see them in the grocery stores,” Hochul said. “They're our teachers, they're our laborers, they're friends. But when duty calls they put on these uniforms, they suit up and are willing to do something that I still find so incredibly powerful. The act of courage to be able to put themselves out there on the front lines, to do what they're required to do and do it for all of us.”
The event capped days of commemorations and remembrances for the New York National Guard in armories and communities across the state.
“It's been a very emotionally draining day,” Hochul said. “The reminder, first of all, when you wake up and you see the crisp blue skies, they just bring back the once beautiful, but ultimately haunting memories of a day twenty years.”
“It just reminds us of the very human toll that that day took on us,” Hochul said.
Three days earlier, Army General Daniel Hokanson, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, visited New York City and the World Trade Center attack site September 8 to thank National Guard personnel and first responders.
Hokanson said the National Guard was transformed after 9/11, rising to the challenges of mobilizations and overseas combat operations, making today’s National Guard an operational reserve to the active component.
Today’s Guard is a result of the events in New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 20 years ago, he said.
“Our world was transformed by the attacks of 9/11, and our mission with it,” Hokanson said. “In our collective shock and grief, we grew stronger. We vowed never to forget, and we have kept that promise.”
Hokanson and Shields placed a wreath at the World Trade Center Memorial Site, honoring the victims and recognizing the sacrifice of first responders and Guardsmen and women in the aftermath of the loss of the Twin Towers.
“As we remember, honor and mourn those we lost, we must also never forget the heroism and courage so many demonstrated that day,” he said.
That theme of remembrance for a new generation was echoed by the New York National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters near Albany, N.Y. during its commemorative event held Friday, September 10.
“We must remember September 11th because it changed us,” Shields said to the headquarters staff and civilian employees. “It changed New York City. It changed our State. It changed our Nation. It changed the very nature of our National Guard. It changed everything.”
Commemorative events of September 11th were held at armories, air bases and readiness centers across the state during unit training assemblies.
Before sunrise on September 11, Soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry based stepped off for a 9.11-mile remembrance road march in lower Manhattan, departing their armory at Lexington Avenue to the World Trade Center memorial site and back.
The 117 Soldiers stopped at the memorial site to place a wreath and then returned to their historic armory for a commemorative ceremony.
The Lexington Avenue Armory is a three-mile walk from the World Trade Center and Soldiers responding on 9/11 staged from this armory.
In upstate New York, Army Brig. Gen. Isabel Smith, Director of the Joint Staff for the New York National Guard, joined with elected officials and 9/11 first responders at the Saratoga Gerald B. Solomon National Cemetery in Schuylerville, N.Y., for a remembrance event with more than 200 community members.
Smith joined Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who represents the region, and Fire Chief Gerald Morigerato, who responded to the attack as a member of New York’s Regional Response Team 1.
Smith, who served in the aftermath of 9/11 with the 53rd Troop Command, spoke of the environment of dust, smoke and confusion during the first few days after the Twin Towers buildings collapsed.
She extoled the commitment of those who rushed in for rescue and recovery efforts.
“The fortitude and perseverance of our first responders, which included Guardsmen, police officers , and fire fighters shown during this most difficult time in our state and nation, was just admirable: it was heroic,” Smith said.
In her remarks at the Javits Center, Governor Hochul spoke to the newest generation of National Guard Soldiers and Airmen.
“Some of you may have been there at the time, but those of you who also signed up after 9/11, you felt that compelling need to do something in the aftermath of 9/11,” Hochul said. “You said, I'll do this. I'll sign up. I'll be there.”
“All of us recognizing that we sleep better at night because you're willing to show up on a 9/11 or to show up in places like Afghanistan , or sometimes they show up with me in a sandbank up on Lake Ontario and help keep back mother nature to protect families and lives. You are always there when we need you,” Hochul said.
Javits has been the site of numerous support activities and knows the National Guard well, noted New York Convention Center President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Steel.
A volunteer center after 9/11 in 2001 and more recently an alternate medical site during the COVID response in 2020 and mass vaccination site in 2021, the Javits Center staff has seen firsthand the impact of its partnership with the National Guard.
“New York is stronger and safer today thanks to the work of the National Guard,” he said.
Shields praised the contributions of the joint force at home and overseas over the past two decades.
“20 years later, the New York National Guard continues it proud tradition of service – both overseas and here at home,” he said. “Since 9/11, more than 25,000 times, members of the New York National Guard have deployed to combat zones across the globe, while here at home we have responded to Super Storm Sandy, the COVID pandemic, and the attack on the United States Capital on January 6th.”
“We are committed to our motto – Always Ready, Always There,” Shields said.
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2021 13:55 |
| Story ID: | 405025 |
| Location: | NEW YORK, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NY National Guard Remembers 9/11, by COL Richard Goldenberg, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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