PETERSBURG — Area communities are preparing to mark the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks with ceremonies honoring those who lost their lives that fateful day.
Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda coordinated the attacks against America in which pilots flew planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers rose up against their captors.
All together, the four crashes killed nearly 3,000 people, with hundreds if not thousands more dying in the following years from exposure to chemicals from the fires.
The death toll includes 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel and the 19 terrorists.
“Sept. 11 is not a holiday, it’s not something we celebrate. It’s something we remember,” Upper Township Administrator Jimmy Van Zlike said Aug. 25.
Van Zlike, who recently retired after serving nearly 25 years in the U.S. Army, said it’s important to remember those who lost their lives in the attacks, as well as the first responders who died trying to save them.
“We need to honor the courage of the first responders, service members, civilians who ran toward the danger,” he said. “Ordinary people became heroes that day. We can live that spirit in small ways every day.”
Van Zlike says the events of Sept. 11, 2001, “makes you contrast Sept. 10 with Sept. 12. Sept. 10 felt ordinary, divided by routines. Sept. 12 felt extraordinary, united by purpose. Let’s choose the empathy, service and neighboring spirit of Sept. 12 in our everyday actions as we remember Sept. 11.”
“Just like the older crowd will never forget where they were when Kennedy was shot, a lot of this generation will never forget where they were Sept. 11,” Mayor Curtis Corson said.
Upper Township
A Patriot Day service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 11 at Sgt. William R. Godfrey Memorial Park at Osprey Point in Seaville. A flag honoring Robert Carey Henzy, a deceased Osprey Point resident and highly decorated wounded Vietnam War combat veteran, will be presented to the Osprey Point community.
Upper Township fire and rescue squad chiefs Jay Potter (or a representative) and Jay Newman will lead the flag salute and will be accompanied by personnel with a display of equipment.
Maj. Gen. Richard C. Cosgrave, USAF (Ret.), will speak on his involvement during the declared national 9/11 emergency. He was chief of staff and commander of the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 177th Fighter Wing in Galloway Township and 108th Fighter Wing at McGuire Air Force Base. Cosgrave flew 131 combat missions during the Vietnam War and was responsible for more than 2,500 personnel and numerous flight operations. In case of inclement weather, the service will be held in the Osprey Point Clubhouse. The park is located at 1731 Route 9.
Ocean City
Ocean City’s annual “A Day to Remember” 9/11 memorial ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 in front of the Ocean City Fire Department headquarters between Fifth and Sixth streets on Asbury Avenue.
The ceremony includes music, prayer and reflections on the memory of lives lost and on the community spirit that was renewed in the wake of the tragedy. The event includes the Striking of the Four Fives, a fire service tradition noting the death of a firefighter in the line of duty.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Frank Larkin, who was in the World Trade Center working for the New York Office of the U.S. Secret Service when the planes hit the towers. Larkin served for more than two decades as a special agent and senior leader in the Secret Service.
Among positions in a long and diverse career in the public and private sectors, he was a Navy SEAL, a Norristown (Pa.) police officer, a Montgomery County (Pa.) homicide detective, a Maryland State Police trooper flight paramedic, director of the Counter IED Operations-Intelligence Integrations Center, the 40th U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms (overseeing the 2,200-member Capitol Police Department), and he’s an advocate for veteran suicide prevention and traumatic brain injury research.
“I’m honored to have Mr. Larkin join us in Ocean City for the ceremony, and I want to encourage everybody to attend,” Mayor Jay Gillian said. “Even on the night of the attacks in 2001, Mayor Bud Knight invited the community to a prayer service at the Tabernacle, while the fear of that day was still fresh. This will be the 23rd time we’ve gathered in Ocean City on 9/11.”
Somers Point
Somers Point will host its annual ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at Patriots Park. Dozens of first responders, residents, dignitaries, military veterans and members of the Legion Riders gather at the park to honor the victims and those who ran toward danger that day, in New York City and across the country.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
