Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.
Twenty-five years later, communities around the globe remembered that day last Friday.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks reshaped the United States. In Vancouver, community leaders, first responders, veterans and elected officials gathered to remember those who died and reflect on the meaning of service.
The annual remembrance ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, hosted by the Community Military Appreciation Committee (CMAC), brought together local officials and members of the community, with speakers returning to the sacrifices made by first responders, military members and ordinary Americans in the aftermath of the attacks.
For Col. Joshua Hovanas of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing, the memories of Sept. 11 are personal.
Hovanas was a student at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy when the attacks occurred. He recalled watching from a rooftop in New Jersey as the second plane struck the World Trade Center.
“In that instant, there was no one to be seen. It was clear that this was a bad thing. We were undoubtedly under attack,” Hovanas said.
He then watched firefighters board vessels headed toward Manhattan as first responders traveled toward the destruction.
“They knew what had happened. They could see the same smoke that we could see, and still they went,” Hovanas said.
“That image has stayed with me for 25 years,” he added. “It showed me that service means moving toward danger when your country needs you most.”
Vancouver Fire Department Chief John Drake said that the same willingness to move toward danger remains central to the work of first responders.
“The first responders who died on September 11 understood these responsibilities,” Drake said. “They weren't aware of the events or dangers awaiting them that day. However, when their community needed them, they responded. They ascended those stairwells when others were fleeing for their lives. Deservedly, that will always be their legacy.”
Drake noted that 18 members of the Vancouver Fire Department who were serving on Sept. 11, 2001, continue to serve the Vancouver community today.
Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle encouraged residents to remember the attacks while also looking toward the future.
“We can remember and still look forward,” McEnerney-Ogle said. “We can remember and grieve and still believe in the goodness of people. And we can honor those we lost by building the kind of community they would be proud to call home.”
U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez also reflected on her own memories of the attacks. She was a student when a teacher told her what had happened, while her older sister had recently moved to New York City.
She recalled trying to reach her sister as phone lines became overwhelmed.
“I was one of those people clogging up the phone lines, trying to get through to see I'm sitting on a busy signal,” Gluesenkamp Perez said.
Twenty-five years later, Gluesenkamp Perez said the country still has a responsibility to protect what Americans value.
“We instead considered what is worth sacrificing for,” she said. “We chose a sense of unity. We chose a sense of national pride. We chose to be a people who see what is worth having in life and to fight profoundly for that.”
Hovanas closed his statement by connecting the sacrifices of 2001 to the service continuing today.
“On September 11, I watched Americans move towards danger, on the water, on the ground, and in the air,” Hovanas said. “Twenty-five years later, that same spirit endures in every Airman who takes the watch.”
“Because they stand ready for the extraordinary, the rest of us are free to live the ordinary,” he said. “May we never forget those who we lost. May we always honor those who answered the call.”
