Honoring their memory

A large crowd gathered in the quad outside the Yuba College cafeteria during the 10 o’clock hour September 11 to join in a moment of silence honoring the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The sea of patriotic colors and somber faces among of the crowd demonstrated that after a year’s time, something so terrible still has a profound effect on the hearts and minds of the American people.

The crowd shifted to the front of the administration building to participate in a memorial ceremony in honor of the all those lost in last year’s tragedy. Alice D’Ambrosio, president of the Associated Students of Yuba College, spoke in honor of the day and the “fight for freedom” that the United States has advocated since this horrendous event.

“A renewed sense of patriotism has swept across our nation,” said D’Ambrosio

As the speaker drew her tribute to a close, cadets from the Yuba College Fire and Police academies marched in formation and stood to salute the American flag as it was lowered to half-mast.

Gathered at the front of the walk were children from the Yuba College daycare. They sat quietly in their red, white, and blue paper caps, struggling to comprehend the heaviness of mood that surrounded them. Each child was given a carnation to lay at the foot of the flagpole, as a symbol of remembrance to the lives lost.

Yuba College student David Treadwell stood off to the side, draped in an American flag.

“I feel like it’s all a contradiction because I’m so happy be alive, but we’re here to remember all of the lives that were lost,” Treadwell remarked. “I feel guilty, in a way, that I get to still be here.”

As the ceremony came to a close, ASYC advisor Elizabeth Bowman announced that the ASYC was distributing commemorative ribbons and had banners for everyone to sign their own personal note of remembrance.

The banners will be sent to New York as a message of fellowship and sign of unity from Yuba College in honor of the attacks.