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Rainy Valley ceremony marks 13th anniversary of 9/11
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An American flag hangs from ladder trucks at the Mahoning Valley 9/11 Memorial Park in Austintown. The memorial park on Thursday was the site of a ceremony to mark the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
By EMMALEE C. TORISK | etorisk@vindy.com
AUSTINTOWN
A steady rainfall didn’t deter Rose Blakeman from spending part of her Thursday evening at the Mahoning Valley 9/11 Memorial Park on South Raccoon Road.
With an umbrella held above her, Blakeman, along with countless others, endured the less-than-favorable conditions present for the 6 p.m. ceremony to mark the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of 2,997 people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and a Shanksville, Pa., field.
For Blakeman, the event — which included a display of Engine 257, one of the firetrucks that responded to the Twin Towers on 9/11, along with the posting of the colors, music and a 21-gun salute — was just too important to miss.
“It’s absolutely something ... we should do for our country,” she explained, “and to respect the people who died for us, so we never forget.”
Blakeman, who lives in Austintown, was accompanied by Tina Sollitto, also of Austintown, along with 7-year-old Josie Sollitto and 9-year-old Halley Houk — both of whom knew about 9/11 only from their teachers and their parents. The two adults agreed that teaching the next generation about 9/11 is imperative.
At the ceremony, which lasted more than an hour, Mahoning Valley residents had the opportunity not only to learn, but also to reflect and to remember.
Sgt. Anthony Nagle did just that.
As the event’s guest speaker, Nagle talked about his experiences as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. His decision to join the military and his desire to help his country came not long after 9/11.
A little more than a year after the attacks, Nagle, who is now assistant director of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, had enlisted and was in boot camp. He would go on to serve two tours of duty in Iraq.
Even today, Nagle, who grew up and lives in Struthers, can remember turning on the TV not long after the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He also can recall the confusion over what was happening — “the news didn’t know what was going on,” Nagle said — and the horror of seeing the second plane crash into the South Tower.
“My friend and I looked at each other and said, ‘Things will never be the same again,’” Nagle added.
And they haven’t been. Nagle noted that many friends of his didn’t make it back from war, and though he did, a piece of himself remains over there — and always will.
He acknowledges, too, that this is “a war that we may be involved in for a long time,” though he hopes differently. His son, who was born just three days before he left for Iraq, said he wants to be a Marine tanker one day, just like his father.
“It makes me very proud,” Nagle explained. “I just hope he doesn’t have to fight the same war — or any war at all.”
Still, Nagle said he believes it is his and other Americans’ duty to protect the U.S. — “nobody has it as good as we have it here,” he added — no matter the cost.
“There is nowhere on this planet that is better than the United States of America,” Nagle said. “God bless America.”
The latter was a sentiment echoed by many of the event’s other speakers, including Lisa Kleinhandler of Canfield, who honored the memory of Michael V. Kiefer during the ceremony. Kiefer was a New York City firefighter who was killed in the attacks at age 25.
Kleinhandler urged the crowd to remember those lost on 9/11, and also to “remember the patriotism and sense of community that was present” in the days, weeks and months after the tragedy.
“Even in the darkest hour of our history,” Kleinhandler said, “we stood united.”