TERRE HAUTE —
The morning was clear, warm and comfortable, not unlike 10 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers on suicide missions murdered nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
This time, however, the dawn of Sept. 11 was marked with people remembering the events and lives affected on that tragic day. One of the day’s earliest ceremonies took place at 8:30 a.m. at Terre Haute South Vigo High School where nearly 100 people gathered around the school track to remember 9/11.
“Just to remember the fallen,” said Bill Nicoson of Farmersburg when asked why he and his wife, Chris, wanted to attend the observance, which included a flag-raising ceremony and patriotic music. Remembering what happened on 9/11 makes this “a tough time for everybody,” he said.
The 30-minute ceremony started with the playing of a recording of Kate Smith’s famous version of “America the Beautiful.” Uniformed members of the South Vigo Jr. ROTC raised the U.S. flag as dozens of people stood along the north end of the track, watching in silence.
Perhaps the event’s most emotional moment took place at 8:46 a.m. when those attending joined hands in a moment of silence marking the instant when the first passenger aircraft slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, killing everyone on board and hundreds of people inside the building.
During the moment of silence, retired military serviceman Steve Silver said he was recalling the words of then-President George W. Bush who vowed to hunt down those behind the terrorist attacks. Silver, then a member of the National Guard, was deployed to the Middle East just three months after 9/11 and would serve another tour of duty in the same area within the next 14 months.
“I wanted to do something,” Silver said of his feelings after 9/11.
At another point during the ceremony, Cody Pratt, a 2011 South Vigo graduate, played “Taps.” Recorded music at the ceremony included “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “God bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood and “Back Home Again in Indiana.”
The musical selections, of which there were about 10, were chosen by students, staff and faculty at South Vigo, said Jim Mann, chairman of the South Vigo Social Studies department and an organizer of the event along with senior South Vigo American Spectra students. Several Spectra students acted as ushers for the event.
“It was a good remembrance,” said Renner Winston, a student organizer. He and other senior Spectra students were in the first grade on 9/11, he said.
The idea to conduct a remembrance ceremony at South Vigo Sunday morning came from students and teachers at the school, Mann said.
One goal of the event was to show the terrorists they did not win, Mann told the Tribune-Star.
Another goal was to insure people remembered what happened 10 years ago.
“We cannot forget,” Mann said. “Period.”
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
9/11: 10th Anniversary Coverage
Related Photos
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Unity: Participants in Sunday's 9/11 Remembrance ceremony at Terre Haute South Vigo High School join hands as a sign of unity.
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Flag raising: Terre Haute South Vigo Cadets prepare to raise the Flag during Sunday's 9/11 Remembrance event. The cadets include Robert Beckner, George Burgess, Caleb Favre, Heather Booker and Jamie Schumaker.
Discussion
Terre Haute South site of 9/11 ceremony to ‘remember the fallen’
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