Wednesday, September 11 marked the one-year anniversary of the terrorists’ attacks on America. Since 9/11 the country has gone through several changes. We are more aware of the people around our international borders, and citizens are now voicing their concern about government decisions. We can feel a greater sense of unity across our nation, crossing cultural and social barriers. This sense of unity was felt in Arlington VA, as the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke at the Arlington ceremony. “Soldiers and civilians alike, they were dedicated to their cause of freedom,” he said. “Young and old, their lives and their deaths gave birth to a new pride and patriotism that has rekindled the flame of freedom across this land. They will be remembered. We will not forget.”
Many local organizations, schools and churches across this area held memorial events on September 11.Governor Gray Davis declared September 11 a “Day of Remembrance” and requested that flags be lowered statewide. Marysville hosted a prayer vigil at Ellis Lake on the Gazebo Island, and the general public was invited to attend.
The trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Sacramento held a special closed-circuit television broadcast from the Trinity Episcopal Parish at Ground Zero in New York. Concerts were also held in honor of the victims and heroes of 9/11 including the performance of Mozart’s requiem at the Cathedral of the Blessed in Sacramento and the Capitol Pops Concert Band performance in Citrus Heights.
Yuba College also did its part in remembering the lost, with a few minutes of silence while the Fire and AJ academies stood at attention. After the ceremony students and staff signed a banner with messages of hope, which was sent to New York City. A student speaker recited the script Moment of Silence at the flagpole, and a one-hour documentary was shown in building 100B and the library.
In an e-mail message to friends and colleagues, Dr. Nikki Harrington, president of Yuba College said, “While we will each remember 9/11 in our individual ways, there will be unity amidst our diversity, as we celebrate freedom and all of humankind.”
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