FORT KNOX, Ky. — For some, Sept. 11, 2001 is not a historic event. For those people, 9/11 still feels very real, fresh, as if it happened earlier today.
One such person is retired Army Sgt. Maj. Tony Rose, who served as the keynote speaker at Fort Knox’s 25th anniversary Patriot Day ceremony, held in the General George Patton Museum of Leadership Sept. 11.
During his remarks, Rose reflected on his personal memories of that day 25 years ago.
“I learned that day that it’s the heart that matters,” Rose said. “It’s not what we look like or how we’re built, or what we say – it’s what we do. I saw some people with big hearts that day.”
Rose worked on Lt. Gen. Timothy Maude’s staff as the Army’s senior career counselor sergeant major in the west side of the Pentagon in 2001. The then Department of Defense had just finished major security upgrades to that section of the building and leaders were beginning the process of assigning office space to members of the G1 Personnel staff. Not everyone had received a desk or office on the morning of Sept. 11.
Rose said he had just watched the airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center on television. It didn’t take long to realize the United States was under attack.
“When the second plane hit, we knew it was not an accident. We knew immediately that things were going to have to change,” said Rose. “I walked back to my office area, which was about 20 feet away when the whole Pentagon shook.”
Rose described what followed after five terrorists crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the side of the building one floor below him. The initial impact killed all 64 on board the aircraft and another 125 in the Pentagon.
“I was blasted into a support column; climbed up on the floor when the fireball rolled past us,” said Rose. “I survived because when I hit, it knocked the breath out of me … because I couldn’t breathe in, I didn’t inhale that super smoke.”
Army Brig. Gen. Dale Crockett. acting commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox, also spoke at the ceremony, reflecting on how short 25 years can feel for those who lived through the trauma of 9/11.
“The weight of a quarter century is palpable; 25 years,” said Crockett. “And yet, in some moments, it feels like it was just yesterday. Our presence here is a stark reminder of the cost our freedom demands, and the sacrifice of those willing to pay it.”
During the ceremony, two Soldiers from U.S. Army Human Resources Command Honor Guard conducted a ceremonial folding of the flag, followed by the tolling of the bell by members of the Fort Knox Fire Department. Those in attendance were then called to a moment of silence before the Soldiers from 21st Theater Command fired a 21-gun salute and a bugler from 100th Army Band played taps.
Crockett spoke about the seemingly average sunny morning that Americans woke to on Sept. 11, 2001, before “the foundation of our nation was shaken to its core – we may have been shaken, but we rose from the desolation stronger and more resilient as a people.”
Rose reflected on witnessing Americans’ resolve and resilience even minutes and then hours after the Pentagon was attacked. He stayed in the Pentagon until after 6 p.m., helping rescue and treat others trapped in the rubble.
“There were people that went back in who surprised me,” said Rose. “Sometimes we look at people, and we don’t really look at the person. I saw people going in that should not have gone back into that building, pulling out people that were twice their size.”
Yet both men acknowledged that the scars of 9/11 still get inflamed from time to time, even 25 years later; sometimes when people least expect it.
“There’s times I wish I could just turn it off and times that when you think you have, it sneaks back in on you,” said Rose. “I think that’s the way it’s going to be for the life of our country.”
Crockett concluded by calling on all Americans to remember – not just the devastation of 9/11, but those who rose to face it headlong afterward.
“We honor the thousands of service members who served in the conflicts that followed and did not return home, and we honor the families whose strength sustained our military, and whose sacrifices are etched into the bedrock of this nation,” said Crockett.
“To the families and friends among us who mourn the loss of someone dear today, we stand with you in unwavering support, sharing the burden of grief, and the emptiness of their loss. May their memory serve as a guiding light and a powerful example for all of us to follow.”