Ocean City tribute: Americans working together
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – The ceremony Friday, Sept. 11, in front of the Ocean City Fire Department headquarters at Sixth Street and Asbury Avenue, was held to make sure Americans do not forget that fateful day 19 years ago when terrorists attacked the United States.
Judging by the large crowd that gathered by 6 p.m., as police and firefighters stood in dress uniforms beneath an American flag suspended from a ladder truck, not far from a permanent 9/11 memorial, it was clear that Ocean City remembers.
A few hundred people turned out before the sun set, sitting on chairs and standing, spread in long rows well along the avenue and far back onto the sprawling lawn of the Ocean City Tabernacle.
They were there to hear a few prayers, and speeches by Mayor Jay Gillian and Fire Chief James Smith, but mainly to remember the nearly 3,000 civilians, firefighters, police and emergency service workers who died in the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in a field in Shanksville, Pa., after terrorists, most of them from Saudi Arabia, hijacked four airliners and turned them into flying bombs.
Although it was hard to tell because of the face masks most people were wearing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the expressions mostly matched the solemnity of the half-hour ceremony that began with the presentation of the colors and a flag salute by Ocean City Boy Scout Troop 32 and Julia Maria Wilson singing the national anthem as the crowd sang along.
After an invocation by fire department Chaplain the Rev. John E. Jamieson, the mayor spoke.
“It’s not been easy to cancel so many events this year,” Gillian said almost every public event from spring through the end of October, “but we had to keep this one. It is a very important one that I think touches so many people.”
“I’d like to honor our first responders. Every day they put their lives on the line to protect us,” he said, getting a rousing round of applause from the crowd. “These last few months have put everybody in a different frame of mind. From all of us in Ocean City from the government to public safety to our citizens … I want to take a moment to thank all of you for keeping Ocean City safe. These last few months have been something we haven’t seen before …. It takes all of us. That’s the theme tonight. That’s what I want to talk about, how 19 years ago when this happened we all got together. When this (COVID-19 pandemic) happened a few months ago, it seems like everyone tried to divide us.
“I just hope, somehow, some way, today you just take in what has happened, how so many people have been touched, how so many people risked so much, like they have over these past few months, and I hope we get to some sense of normalcy because we need it.”
We should never forget that tragic day 19 years ago, but 9/11 also reminds us how we can work together. Thousands of people woke up that day with no idea what was going to happen.
The chaos and fear that followed those attacks was quickly replaced by something else – Americans working together,” Gillian said. “Across the country we put aside our differences to mourn the loss of so many, to pray for their families, to rebuild, to make sure that terrorism never prevails. As our nation faces new challenges, I want us to learn from what happened back then and remember how we pulled together as a nation.”
“Too often in this day and age, people react by picking up their phones, attacking each other on social media and other ways. The country seems divided in so many ways. Americans will always have different politics and different ideas, but we all share above all else a love for our country. We can accomplish so much more by working together. Let that be my message: Be nice, be kind, never forget those lost on 9/11 and never forget the good that follows.”
The fire chief said although he didn’t have any riveting personal tales of that day, Sept. 11, 2001 is synonymous with the surprise attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States’ entrance into World War II, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 because people remember where they were and what they were doing.
Noting the day took the lives of 2,977 innocent people – 2,606 at the World Trace Center, 246 traveling on the airplane that crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pa., and 125 at the Pentagon. Of those that perished, 55 were military at the Pentagon, 71 were police officers and 343 were firefighters, he said.
“I have two younger children who only know of 9/11 by what my wife and I share,” he said. That got him to thinking of his firefighters and how many of them were young children when the attacks occurred and as older firefighters retire and new ones are sworn into the department, more will not have been born as of Sept. 11, 2001.
“It brings into perspective as one of the older guys in the firehouse that they really didn’t grasp it then. To me it is difficult to come up with an explanation that actually captures that gut-wrenching feeling of that day. How do we describe that to the younger generation? It is equally difficult to explain the amount of patriotism that was on display by all Americans,” he said.
Today, this is a divided nation, Smith added, but 19 years ago “we purchased every available American flag.” Smith said he hopes that nation can bring back that pride and unity.
Noting how the scenes from that day have virtually vanished from television, he said that in part that is a good thing so families of victims don’t have to relive that day.
“As a community,” however, he said, “9/11 is a reminder of the wonderful freedoms we enjoy every day in America. It also makes me appreciate the service and dedication of our military and public safety. In the fire service, 9/11 is a prime example of when duty calls. I’m confident that many, if not all, of those firefighters knew that entering those towers was going to be a life-altering decision for them. However, they didn’t hesistate.”
Americans, he said, must remember their bravery and dedication and do their best to “emulate that to our fullest for this wonderful community.”
Smith took a moment to remember three firefighters who died during the pandemic because they were unable to provide a proper representation because of the COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings. He cited Capt. Lou Davis, the first African-American in the department, who served 38 years; firefighter Jules Green, who served 27 years; and firefighter Jim Leone, who served 25 years.”
The chief then rang the bell – used when a firefighter dies in the line of duty – to alert all members a comrade made the ultimate sacrifice, a practice know as the “striking of the four fives.” He then sounded the bell.
After Jeffrey Tuthill played “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes, firefighter Geoffrey Duffy and Ocean City Police Patrolman Jeff Doto carried a memorial wreath and set it upon the 9/11 memorial.
The Rev. Marcia Stanford of Macedonia UMC and chaplain for The Shores of Wesley Manor, provided the benediction. Bob Marzulli, commander of American Legion Post 24, and post Adjutant Jack Hagan, returned the flag to full staff.
Sofia Farrell sang “God Bless American” to end the ceremony.
