Team Fairchild honors heroes at 9/11 remembrance ceremony
Twenty-five years have passed since a clear September morning forever changed the United States.
On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon and one into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives, including military members, first responders and civilians.
A quarter century later, the Fairchild Air Force Base community gathered to ensure those lives, and the sacrifices that followed, are not forgotten during the 25th annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony.
The ceremony brought together Airmen, families, community members and leaders to pause from the demands of everyday life and reflect on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the generations shaped by them.
“What that day revealed above all was the unbreakable character of the American people,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Brian Epperson, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander. “In the face of darkness, we witnessed ordinary citizens become heroes aboard Flight 93, first responders charge directly into burning towers, and our Airmen immediately launch into the skies to defend our homeland.”
As the American flag was lowered during retreat, those gathered stood in remembrance of the men, women and children whose lives were taken that day.
For some members of the Fairchild community, Sept. 11 is a historical event taught in classrooms and remembered through annual ceremonies. For others, it is a personal memory, one connected to a loved one, a military career, a first-responder community or a moment they can still remember vividly.
“In the 25 years that have been passed much has been made sacred in the service,” said Matthew Cowels, City of Spokane Assistant Chief of Police. “The sacrifice in the service, sacrifice in the air, sacrifice at the Pentagon, and sacrifice by those who left their nation to defend her, and the sacrifice by those who stayed behind.”
At the heart of the ceremony was remembrance.
The names and stories associated with Sept. 11 represent more than a date in history. They represent fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, coworkers and fellow Americans who never returned home. The ceremony provided an opportunity to stop and remember them.
As the generation with firsthand memories of 9/11 grows older and a new generation of Airmen takes its place, ceremonies like this help preserve the history behind the mission. They ensure that the sacrifices made 25 years ago, and in the years that followed, remain part of the story carried out by those who serve today.
“Quarter of a century later, the passage of time does not diminish the grief that 2,977 innocent lives stolen in New York, at the Pentagon, and in a quiet field in Shanksville,” said Epperson.“Nor does it lessen the debtthatwe owe to thousands of service members who answered the callin the years of conflict that have followed.”
The flag was raised once again following theceremony, marking the end of the day's observance.
But the message remained: 25 years may have passed, but the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, are not forgotten.
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