Spirit of revival after storm of 9/11 attacks recalled as more than 100 gather in Juneau on 24th anniversary
- Mark Sabbatini
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 22 hours ago
"Our community is stronger, braver and healthier because of the outcomes of that day," JPD chief says
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
A stormy morning amidst stormy times for the country saw a break in the clouds for more than 100 emergency responders and other people gathering Riverside Rotary Park on Thursday morning to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Heavy rain at the start of the 30-minute ceremony gradually diminished and stopped altogether by the time Scott Marnon’s bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace" concluded the annual ceremony. The rain was never mentioned by the speakers, who instead focused on the unifying moments resulting from the attacks that killed 2,996 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
"Let this remembrance stir us to value life, freedom and one another all the more," Pastor Antone Ferrell, a retired U.S. Army veteran, said while offering the invocation. "That day sought to shake our hope, extinguish our light and disturb our peace. But Lord it is never your will that any person live in terror or that any nation be defined by fear."
The ceremony at the park’s September 11th Memorial followed a traditional annual program beginning at about 9:45 a.m. with a welcome to those gathered by Hayden Garrison, president-elect of the Juneau Glacier Valley Rotary, and Ferrell’s invocation. That was followed by a few minutes for people to offer acknowledgement of thanks to police, firefighters, military personnel and other emergency responders as they stood lined up along the perimeter of the memorial area.
At 9:58 a.m. — the time first of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers fell in New York City after both buildings were struck by planes — a flag at the memorial was raised to half staff by Juneau Police Department Deputy Chief Krag Campbell and Detective Kirt Stage-Harvey. Singing the national anthem as they did so was Sara Radke Brown, artistic director of the local vocal ensemble Vox Borealis.
Juneau Police Chief Derek Bos, delivering the "Invitation to Remember" address after the flag raising, said he wanted to "specifically remember the firefighters and police officers who gave their lives that day before there was any semblance of understanding of the event, without even knowing what they were responding to.
"Police officers and firefighters sprinted to the scene while others fled in panic," he said. "Firefighters, paramedics and police officers ran towards the fear, towards the terror, bent on saving lives, helping those in desperate need and focused on bring order to the chaos."
"When I reflect upon the days and weeks and months that followed that event, I see that our grief has turned to strength. The lives lost have become the glue that bonds us into stronger, closer, better communities today. Let us not only remember what we lost, but also be encouraged by the bonds that we formed from that event."
The death count has continued to rise over the years beyond the 2,996 official tally resulting from the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and a rural field in Pennsylvania, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency reports more than 24,000 responders working at the World Trade Center site or a debris-sorting site have developed cancer, and more than 8,000 responders and survivors have died — although the report doesn’t state how many of those deaths are due to illnesses related to the attacks.
This year’s anniversary also came at a time of heightened tensions and polarization nationwide. The Associated Press reported there were additional security measures at the ground zero commemoration in lower Manhattan, due to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college a day earlier.
Bos, in addition to paying tribute to the responders assisting after the attacks and working today, also reflected on how local residents have responded to and remember that day.
"Here in Juneau our community is stronger, braver and healthier because of the outcomes of that day," he said. "When we look back we are witnesses to something that goes beyond sacrifice, beyond friendship, beyond a call of duty. We witness the love that draws strangers together, the love that bonds communities in the face of any horror. As we remember those heroes who gave up their lives that day let us never forget that love, friendship and community are what gives us the will to carry on and carry us forward."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
