Good Morning TC Friends!
Our schools are in full-swing…in-person with optional masks. Our students, teachers, admin and staff are happy to return to some sense of normalcy after a heartbreaking year.
Along with this renewed energy we’re experiencing, September brings a time for remembrance, mourning and honor.
Join us for a moment of silence as we recognize the 20th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and honor those who perished that day at our Patriot Day event. This is your opportunity to personally thank first responders and volunteers. Come and shake a police officer’s hand, hug a firefighter and exchange words of support and encouragement to those who serve our community.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks killed 2,977 people and injured thousands at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Commemorative events are held at all three sites, throughout our nation, including Trophy Club, on the anniversary of the attacks.
September 11, 2001, is a day many of us wish we did not have to remember. Certainly few of us imagined tragedy on such a scale. But we do not — and will not—ever forget.
We remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. How we reacted. Who we called. Children may remember adults crying, speaking in hushed voices, leaping to turn off the radio or the television when they entered into the room. And for the children who have no memory of this, although painful, need to know what happened and how our country came together to not only mourn, but to overcome, persevere and honor those lost.
We remember the images of smoke and fire, of rubble and dust. A stunned president continuing to read to small children, feigning calm and normalcy for their sakes. The photographs along the fence around the site posted in hopes that “missing” did not mean “dead.”
We remember images of people jumping to their deaths, hearing the calls from loved ones from the planes, including the last words from UA 93 passenger Todd Beamer… “Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll”…before he and other passengers attacked the hijackers, regained control of the aircraft and crashed into empty fields of Pennsylvania instead of hoards of unsuspecting citizens on the ground.
We remember the First Responders running into harms way and perishing while rescuing hundreds including 343 firefighters , 71 law enforcement officers and 8 emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Plus, the thousands who were lost in the aftermath from illnesses attributed to 9/11.
We remember how our military scrambled…even launching fighter jets that had no time to be armed, which could mean only one thing. They would be flying a kamikaze mission, ramming into Flight 93. One such fighter pilot was 1st Lieutenant Heather Penney, who would aim her jet for the plane's tail, while her commanding officer, Colonel Marc Sasseville, aimed for the cockpit…which she was prepared for, even with the possibility of her dad being aboard, since he was a pilot for United Airlines who often flew out of East Coast cities.
We also to honor the 33 airline crew members killed when the terrorists crashed two American Airlines flights and two United Airlines flights. We don't necessarily think of flight crews as first responders, but they were really the very first responders in uniform that horrific day to die in the line of duty. Shirley Hall, vice president of the 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial Foundation in Grapevine, said their memorial sculpture symbolizes the valor, dedication and commitment that flight crews demonstrate each day and to “Walk quietly, speak softly, pray if you will, cry if you must, but always look to the skies," "To our heroes: first taken, last remembered, now honored."
Until then, see you around town!
Mayor Alicia Fleury